


The Burning- Dreamnotfound/Gream

by App1e_Juice



Series: The Withering Series [2]
Category: Badboyhalo, Dreamwastaken, GeorgeNotFound - Fandom, Minecraft - Fandom, Sapnap - Fandom, Skeppy, Technoblade - Fandom, a6d - Fandom, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Action, Adventure, BoyxBoy, Gay, M/M, Minecraft, Nether, Romance, YouTubers - Freeform, mcyt - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 46,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/App1e_Juice/pseuds/App1e_Juice
Summary: A new challenger approaches just as Dream and George settle into marriage life together. New friendships are made while old ones are challenged. The heroes must return to the Nether to.....wait a minute........where’s George?Story Includes:-Violence-Intense sicknesses and wounds-Implied intimacy between some characters-Strong LanguageA/N- This is a fanfic. I do not ship the irl people mentioned in the story and will take this story down if anyone expresses that they don't feel comfortable with stories being written.
Relationships: BadBoyHalo/Skeppy, Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: The Withering Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830565
Comments: 339
Kudos: 658





	1. A Quick Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been peer pressured into making a discord for my stories! If you've enjoyed reading them and would like to join a community of other readers, click the link below. Thank you to @StrawberryClouds17 for telling me to make it. Ily honeyyyy! 💕 
> 
> https://discord.gg/A4D4ZHQ

Hello everyone! Apples here! Thank you so much for choosing to read my story. If you haven't yet, please go read my story, "The Withering" because this is its sequel! Yay! It isn't super important to read "The Withering" first, but this story will be calling back to events from the story, so some bits of this story may not make sense without it. There is a three-year time jump from that story's ending to this story's prologue. This story's prologue is written from George's point of view in a letter he sent to Zak. I thought it'd be a fun way to catch everyone up while still giving something entertaining to read. I hope you enjoy my new story, "The Burning"!!! 💕

Dear Zak,

First off, could you please tell me why you want me to lick your letters? It's been three years and you still haven't explained it to me. I wouldn't have cared had you not followed the demand with, "or die tomr." I've enjoyed being your pen-pal, but I'm a little concerned about your mental state.

How has everything been with Darryl? I was so excited when you two moved in together. I swear you two need to kiss already. You've kept us waiting for three years. I can't wait to see your dogs Rocco and Rat again. They were so much fun to play with last time. I also heard that you two were taking care of that one girl we helped all those years ago during the first Wither attack. I think her name was Lily? It was really brave of you two to take her in while her grandma is sick. Let's all hope she recovers soon.

Things over here have been amazing. I think Dream and I finally have marriage life down. We visited the desert village and Dream decided to tame a cat of his own. Her name is Patches and she is adorable, but she is just as needy as Clay is I swear. Thankfully, the cats get along just fine. Other than that, nothing new has happened between us. It's been three years and we are still chilling out in the honeymoon phase.

I was wondering if you've noticed blue ashes around the village down there? I've noticed them over the past few days, but I have no idea where they are coming from. I've never seen anything like it before. Dream and Sapnap are also trying to figure out what they came from. If you know anything about that, let me know. I want to get to the bottom of this mystery!

The surprise is almost ready. It took a while, but it's just about done. I just have to finish the decor and it'll be perfect. If you and Bad could help distract Dream tomorrow, it'd be a huge help! I know you two are busy with the village kids, so Sapnap will be around to keep him out of the forest while you guys are busy.

That's it for now! I can't wait until we can all hang out again. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the days that we could just joke all day.

Sincerely,

George

———

Word Count: 535

Published: July 16th


	2. Passing the Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been peer pressured into making a discord for my stories! If you've enjoyed reading them and would like to join a community of other readers, click the link below. Thank you to @StrawberryClouds17 for telling me to make it. Ily honeyyyy! 💕 
> 
> https://discord.gg/A4D4ZHQ

Dream wakes up to Patches tapping his chest, a rabbit's foot hanging out of her mouth. "Good morning to you too, princess," Dream jokes as he pulls the foot from her mouth. He looks to his side to find George missing, a note on his pillow. The note read-

Gone to collect flowers for dye.

See you later tonight!

Ily

~Georgie

Dream smiles as he places the rabbit's foot in his bedside table. He sits up and stretches, basking in the warm glow of the Sun coming through his window. He found himself in a sense of bliss as he took a deep breath in. All was calm. Everything was perfect.

Patches follows Dream as he walks out of the bedroom and into the small living room where Cat was curled up on the couch. Patches jumps up beside Cat and rubs her head on his back sweetly. Dream smiles at them, so thankful that they got along well. He would've been sad if the fur babies hated each other.

Dream rubs his eyes as he wanders into the small kitchen, looking for something to eat. After struggling to pick something, he settled on potato pancakes. Since he had moved in with George, he had taken up cooking. The villages were quite peaceful, so he had a lot of spare time on his hands while George was at work. After a year of being together, they had both saved up enough money to buy a small house together. It wasn't much. It was extremely small, just barely enough space for the two of them. But it was theirs and it was perfect.

Dream fidgets with his wedding band as he waits for the pancakes to cook in the furnace. The ring was made from obsidian and had three diamonds in the middle of it. George's ring was similar to his, except he had a thin stripe of lapis wrapped around the middle of it. Sapnap had been the one to make them. While he was an expert cartographer, he had learned how to handle precious stones when making Rose a necklace. He offered to help George make the rings when George told him he was going to propose. The rings were a pain in the ass to make, but they were gorgeous, making all of the hard work worth it. Dream smiled, thinking back to the day George had proposed to him. The Brit was a bumbling mess all day and burst into tears when he tried to propose because he was so in love. Everyone already knew Dream would say yes, but that didn't stop George from being a nervous wreck the whole time.

Dream pulled his pancakes out of the furnace and sat at the table beside the window, watching as people went about their busy days. Ever since the two villages were joined together, everyone has been able to find a lot more work including George, who now found himself making a lot more clothes than before. He'd also began giving kids archery lessons, which they loved. George had become the town sweetheart when he came back. Everyone suddenly realized how big of a heart he had. Dream finishes the last bite of his pancakes as he hears a knock on his door. He places his plate into the sink, then opens the door.

Sapnap was standing on the other side looking nervous. "Hey, Dream! You doing anything today?"

"Nope. This evening I'm doing a perimeter check, but other than that, I'm free. I was thinking I'd go help George pick some flowers."

"No!" Sapnap blurts. He clears his throat. "George is a big boy. He can take care of himself. I was thinking we should go join Skeppy and Bad. They're working with the village kids on survival skills."

Dream snorts out a laugh. "So, basically Bad is teaching a large group of kids how to do things like start a fire while Skeppy gives him constant heart attacks?"

Sapnap laughs as he shrugs. "Yeah pretty much."

"Count me in!" Dream says, leaving to go to his room to grab his shoes.

"Dude, bring your mask!" Sapnap calls out. "The kids love it!" Dream scans his room until his eyes fall on his iron mask. Sapnap was right, the kids loved it. He grabbed it and slid it on, keeping the mask against the side of his head so people could still see his face.

When Dream steps outside, he's greeted with the sounds of children playing in the meadow not far from his home. Bad was desperately trying to wrangle them all in while Skeppy was leading the chaos, as he normally did.

Bad takes a deep breath. "Alright, munchies, you need to calm down!"

"GET HIM, INVADERS!" Skeppy shouts pointing at Bad. Multiple kids rush at him and being tickling him.

Bad falls to the ground laughing as he begs for the kids to stop. "Skeppy! Tell them to get off!"

"Invaders! Halt!" Skeppy demands. The kids immediately stop and stand up, giving Bad room to get up.

He laughs as he stands up, brushing off his pants. "Ok, let's try this again. Who here can tell me how we make charcoal?"

No one raises their hand except for Sapnap, who was now only a few feet away from them. "OOO! OOOOOOO! PICK ME! I KNOW MR. BAD!"

When the kids heard Sapnap's voice, they all turned around and started getting rowdy again. The village kids were obsessed with the guys ever since they learned that they killed a giant monster. They were practically celebrities, so when Bad and Skeppy said they were going to teach kids survival skills, everyone jumped at the opportunity. Dream, George, and Sapnap would often help out with the kids when they didn't have to work because Bad got easily overwhelmed. Skeppy wasn't much help when it came to watching the kids, but Bad didn't mind. He was just happy that they got to spend time together.

Bad beams as he watches Sapnap and Dream walk up. "Ok, Sapnap, how do we make charcoal?"

"We cook wooden logs in a furnace!" Sapnap cheers, gaining applause from the kids. He dramatically bows and takes a seat beside Lily, who he had taken quite a liking to recently. All of the guys had fallen in love with her. She was so young when they met her during the first Wither attack. It was heartbreaking that she lost her only parent left that day. She had moved in with her grandmother, but after she fell incredibly ill, Bad and Skeppy began taking care of her. For the past month, she was an honorary member of their group. She was sweet, cunning, and according to George, was an amazing shot. But of course, she was. George was the one who taught her anyway.

"Correct, Sapnap!" Bad yells over the talkative kids. "Tomorrow, we will be working on making campfires! Because the Munchies are our older kids, I'm going to have them handle the fire part. The invaders will assist with setting the campfire up!" The kids all cheer and yell with excitement. Bad laughs. "Ok, that's all for today. All of you muffins head straight home!" The kids all stood up from where they were sitting, but they didn't leave. Instead, the crowded around Sapnap and Dream, attempting to ask questions and tell their own stories. "Ok, come on everyone, it's time to go home!" Bad says. The kids let out a chorus of groans as they walk back into the village.

"Today was fun!" Skeppy says, packing up pieces of charcoal they must've used for the lesson.

Bad rolls his eyes. "I'm sure it was quite fun for you."

Skeppy slings his backpack over his shoulder. "Why do you say it like that?"

Bad rubs his face, becoming annoyed by just thinking about it. "They kept calling me bald. I have hair."

Skeppy snickers. "Ok, sorry, that one was my fault. I'll tell them to chill tomorrow, though. I promise."

Bad smiles. "Thank you." Dream watches as the two stand looking at each other in silence. They didn't need to say anything for Dream to understand their looks. They were in love. They were just too afraid to admit it to one another. It was starting to become painful to be around them when they shared moments together. There was just a constant cloud of tension blocking out the Sun whenever they did this.

"We should get some lunch!" Lily says, snapping Bad and Skeppy out of their trance. She takes Sapnap's hand and begins dragging him towards the lower half of the village where Bad and Skeppy lived. When George moved in with Dream, Skeppy moved into George's room to help pay the bills. "Darrie showed me how to make muffins!"

"You seriously want to eat muffins for lunch?" Dream asks.

She mischievously smiles at him. "It's always muffin time."

It was then that Dream realized that she was spending way too much time with Bad and Skeppy. She had Bad's muffin-y innocence and Skeppy's devilish curiosity. Once they got within eyesight of the house, Lily let got if Sapnap's hand and ran inside, eager to grab the muffins that she and Bad made yesterday.

Skeppy gives Bad a look and motions towards Dream. Bad shrugs. Skeppy then raises one eyebrow and crosses his arms. The exchange was silent and discreet, but Dream still noticed it. "Dream?" Bad asks. "Can we talk outside for a little bit?"

"Um, Sure. Is everything ok?" Dream asks as Skeppy walks inside.

Bad pulled Dream to the far side of the house where they could have a little bit of privacy. "Lily's grandma isn't going to make it."

Dream feels a pain in his gut. He cared a lot about her and knew that this would kill her spirit. She didn't have any other family in the village. She'd be an orphan. "What do we do?"

Bad leans against the cobblestone wall. "Well, we look for a new home for her. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He begins to fidget with the hem of his shirt. "I heard you and George talking about wanting kids the other day. Obviously, you guys can't make that happen as easily as other couples. I was wondering if you two may be interested in adopting her? I mean, she's seven so you wouldn't have to worry about diapers or potty training or anything. She's also smart and adorable. And she adores you two."

Dream's face freezes in a smile. "I mean, I'd have to talk to George first, but if he says yes, I'd love to adopt her!" Dream's heart started going crazy. It was true that he and George wanted to adopt a child eventually, but now that they had a chance, he was freaking out. It was rare to find orphaned children in this village because even if a child's parents died, they usually had someone else to live with such as a grandparent or an aunt/uncle. Not only was he going to become a father, but he was going to become Lily's father. He couldn't be happier.

"Dreeeeeeam!" Lily yells from the front door. "Come get your MUFFINS!" Bad chuckles as he leads Dream inside. Lily had already set the table with small plates and napkins. In the middle of the table was a beautifully woven basket filled with muffins. Lily pulls out a chair and gestures for Dream to sit down.

Dream slides into the seat, sitting across from Sapnap, who was currently picking the crumbs off of his plate. "I'll take another one, little lady."

Lily squints her eyes at him. "What do we say when we want something?"

"Please?" Sapnap asks. Lily plops another muffin onto his plate as Bad high fives her.

"I swear, she is exactly like you," Sapnap jokes.

Bad shakes his head. "Not really. She just has manners, unlike the rest of you."

Dream quietly wheezes to himself, catching Lily's attention. "What was that noise you made?"

"What?" Dream asks.

"You squeaked or something. It's the same noise that the tea thingy makes when the water is ready." Her adorable innocence makes Dream wheeze even harder. "THAT! That's the noise I'm talking about!"

"That's his laugh Lily," Bad explains.

Lily places a blueberry muffin on Dream's plate. "I like your laugh, Dreamie." She grabs a muffin for herself, then sits down next to Dream as she digs in. "Where's Georgie?"

"He's busy," Sapnap says with a mouthful of muffin.

Lily giggles. "Oh! He must be in the forest b-"

Lily is interrupted by Skeppy covering her mouth with his hands. "Lily, I told you not to tell anyone!"

Bad crosses his arms. "You told her, didn't you?"

"She was there when I got George's letter!" Skeppy whines. "It wasn't my fault!"

"What did you tell her?" Dream asks.

Before they could even come up with an answer, they hear two knocks at the door, followed by the squeaking of the door opening. "Georgie!" Lily screams, jumping up from her seat. She flings herself at him and he catches her, lifting her up and onto his hip.

George tosses her onto the couch, making her laugh uncontrollably. "Hey, Lily. How's it going?"

She jumps up from the couch and points to the basket of muffins. "We are having lunch!"

George tilts his head and locks eyes with Dream. "Lunch?"

"Just go with it," Dream says, taking a bite out of the muffin.

"Well, I can't right now. I came to grab Sapnap," George explains. "I need help with something."

Sapnap grabs another muffin and puts it on his plate. "But it's lunchtime!"

George smiles and says, "I need your help with something," through his teeth.

"Oh!" Sapnap jumps up from his seat and puts the muffin back into the basket. "Let's go!"

George bends down and kisses Dream's cheek and then leaves before Dream had the chance to say anything to him. Once Sapnap was out of the home, Dream looks at Bad and Skeppy. "I don't know what's going on, but you need to quit acting weird. It's starting to freak me out."

George was walking fast through the village and towards the woods where his little project was. Though Sapnap was slightly taller than George, he found himself struggling to keep up with him. "Dude! Slow down."

George looks over his shoulder, then slows down so that Sapnap could catch up with him. "I'm sorry, I'm just panicking."

"I can tell." Sapnap waited for George to elaborate, but he never did. "Are you going to tell me what's up?"

"I don't know what color to make the carpet," George admits, embarrassed.

Sapnap starts laughing. "THAT'S what you're freaking out about?!"

George shoves Sapnap. "It's not funny, Nick! This house needs to be perfect. It just has to be."

"And it will be! George, you could present him a tiny wooden box and he'd cherish it for the rest of his life." His small joke was enough to make George smile and relax a little. "I get that you want y'all's forever home to be perfect. I really do. But as long as you two have a place to live together, it will be perfect." Once they made it to the surprise, Sapnap stopped in his tracks and looked up at the beautiful house George had spent the last two months building. He was there to help George build the home's foundation and walls, but once the rest of it was built, it looked beautiful. The two-story home consisted of four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and, of course, the basics like a kitchen and living room and other rooms like that. George was most proud of the huge kitchen he had put together for Dream. It had glossy granite counters and dark oak cabinets to match the outside of the home. The soft glow of the torches inside seeped out through the windows, making the whole home look like it was glowing. The front porch was just as beautiful as the inside. George had planted blue cornflowers along the windows. It was a beautiful place that Sapnap wished he lived in.

"Watch out for the blue ash," George says, taking Sapnap's attention from the house and to the ground. All around the house was the same blue ash everyone had seen on the outskirts of the village.

"Any ideas on where it came from?"

George shakes his head. "I wish I did. There's been a lot more of it recently. It's nothing like I've ever seen before."

"I'll have to check in with Bad to see if he's found any information about it yet." He looks around the front of the house. "What did you need my help with?"

George leads Sapnap inside and points at the floor. Half of it was covered with lime green carpet while the other was done with blue carpet. "I don't know which one I like better."

Sapnap looks at the carpet, then hatches an idea. "Do you have any white carpet?"

"No, but I can easily make some."

"Great! How about you make it into a pattern? Like, those three colors look awesome together. Just organize them into a pattern and BOOM! You've got a carpeted floor that looks good." Sapnap watches as the gears start turning in his head.

George looked at the floor, imagining how it'd look with Sapnap's idea. "You know what? That's a great idea. I'll get to it! It should only take me two hours."

"Didn't you want to show him the house by sunset?" Sapnap asks.

George looks out the window and notices that the sun was probably going to set at the exact time the carpet would be done. He really wanted to show Dream the house at the start of the sunset, not once it started. "Shit. I guess I won't make it in time." Sapnap begins pulling up a corner of the carpet. "Woah, what are you doing?"

"Helping you get this done by sunset." Sapnap yanks upwards, pulling all of the green carpet up.

George smiles. "Thank you, Nick."

Sapnap winks. "Anything for my best friend."

———

Word Count: 3040

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Don't forget to leave kudos! Love you guys!

~App1es

Published: July 16th


	3. Husbandry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been peer pressured into making a discord for my stories! If you've enjoyed reading them and would like to join a community of other readers, click the link below. Thank you to @StrawberryClouds17 for telling me to make it. Ily honeyyyy! 💕 
> 
> https://discord.gg/A4D4ZHQ

Dream stumbles through the woods, blindfolded, as George drags him along. Sapnap walked close behind him to help support him if he tripped on a log or something while Bad and Skeppy hung back a little, laughing at the idiots in front of them.

"Dude, why are you walking like a newborn dear?" Sapnap laughs as he watches Dream swing his leg in the air before putting it down.

"Uh, because this is terrifying?!" Dream retorts. "I don't know why I have to wear your bandana around my eyes. I literally could've just closed my eyes."

"Nope! You would've tried to peek," George states.

Dream takes another step and gets hit in the head with a tree branch. "OW! YOU GUYS ARE TRYING TO KILL ME!"

Sapnap begins laughing so hard that he had to lean on Dream for support. "Sorry, not sorry, man."

"WE MADE IT!" George shouts. Dream reaches back to take off his blindfold, but George smacks his hand away. "Not yet! One second!" Dream hears George scamper away and mess with something before coming back and finally saying, "Ok, you can look now."

As soon as he took the blindfold off of his eyes, Dream looked forward and saw a beautiful wooden home that shone like a beacon in the forest. It looked so welcoming and cozy. He knew that whoever lived here was a lucky person. But then, Dream saw a sign planted in the front yard that read:

Welcome home

Dreamie

Dream's vision became blurry with tears as he reread the sign over and over again. He looked at George who was smiling widely at him. "You made this?"

George looks from Dream to his friends, and then back. "Most of it. Those dummies helped me with some bits though."

Dream looks at the house in disbelief. "This is a joke. It has to be a joke."

George wraps his arms around Dream and lays his head on his arm. "Nope. This is real. And it's ours." George was so thankful that he and Sapnap were able to finish the carpet on time. As the sun lowered behind the house, it cast a radiant glow around it, making the home appear ethereal.

"We should get going," Bad says. "It's doing time be dark soon."

Before anyone could leave, George and Dream were both sure to thank them for helping. George was in tears by the time they left. He couldn't have been more thankful for their help.

Dream marveled at the inside of the home. He walked through every room and traced his hand across the walls. George had already moved most of their stuff from their old house into the new one, so Dream went exploring to see where everything was put. He was overjoyed. Dream ended his walk around the home in the kitchen where he had plenty of room to cook or bake whatever his heart desired. Tonight was going to be a simple dinner, though. He wanted to spend more time relaxing in his new home.

George walks into the dining room just as Dream sets out two bowls of rabbit stew. He slides into his seat and takes a deep breath. "This looks amazing, Clay."

"It's nothing special," Dream laughs.

"Did you make it?" George asks.

"Uh, yeah?"

George takes a spoonful of the stew and holds it up to his mouth to blow away the steam. "Then it's very special."

Their evening was pleasant. George talked about the long process he went through to get the house built. He had decided to build it in a part of the woods that people rarely ventured into so that they could have complete privacy. George also mentioned making a moat around the home and adding a little bridge to get across it. While he claimed that it was for defense, Dream knew that he just wanted to have his own little river. Dream leans back in his chair, finally finished with his meal. George was a couple of bites away from finishing himself.

"Hey, George? I want to talk to you about something." Dream scraped the bottom of his bowl with his spoon while he searched for the right way to say what he wanted to say. George didn't verbally respond, but he looked up at Dream, ready for him to start talking. "You know Lily, right?"

George laughs, slightly confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Bad told me earlier that her grandmother isn't going to make it and that she needs a new home." Dream looks at George, hoping he'd put the pieces together on his own.

But, as usually was the case, he did not. "That's awful! I'll talk to Bad tomorrow to see how we can help. No child should be without a family."

As George takes a drink from his cup, Dream blurts out, "I think we should adopt her."

George nearly chokes on his drink. He slowly lowers the cup, waiting for Dream to laugh and say it was a joke. But the laugh never came. "You're serious?"

Dream reaches across the table to take George's hands in his. "I've never been more serious about anything in my life." Dream could feel George's pulse begin to speed, but it wasn't out of joy like he was expecting. He could feel the floor vibrate under him as George's leg bounced. George desperately avoided eye contact and instead stared at a spot on the wall, just past Dream's face. His face was blank, but it was still obvious that something was up. "George?"

Upon hearing his name, George's leg held still as his eyes found their way back to Dream. "We can't, Dream. We just can't."

Dream let's go if George's hands and places them in his lap. "I will respect that, but could you at least tell me why? We were talking about adoption literally last week."

George closes his eyes tightly and takes a deep breath. "I don't think you're ready, Clay. Raising a child is a huge responsibility."

Dream searches George's face in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, for starters, you're not exactly employed right now," George starts.

"Oh, I have a job George," Dream disagrees. "I keep the village safe."

George stands up and takes his bowl to the cauldron. "Dream, nothing has happened these last few years that would warrant a protector of any sort. There have been no outside threats and this whole place is a beacon of light at night so nothing comes near us. You literally walk the perimeter of the village once a week and that's all."

Dream felt his blood begun to boil. George was one of the only people that encouraged him to take the job as a protector. He told him that it'd be perfect for him. But here he was, putting him down for it. "Are you listening to yourself right now?"

"You're also extremely messy!" George says. "You sit at home all day and you let the cats do whatever they want and you don't sweep up the hair or anything. And I'm always the one stuck doing dishes after dinner every night."

Dream scoffs. "Well, at least I don't track dye into the house every day! The walls of our last house are covered in rainbow streaks!"

"Well EXCUSE ME for working hard to put food on the table and clothes on your back!" George crosses his arms, still by the cauldron.

Dream stares at George in disbelief. "What is wrong with you right now?! Why are you saying these things?"

"Because I've kept them for myself for too long!" George walks back to the table to grab Dream's empty bowl. "Look, I love you, but if you think I'm going to adopt a kid with you, you need to grow up and act like an adult for once."

Dream shoots up, nearly knocking down his chair behind him. "Oh, you think I'm the one that needs to grow up?! George, you're standing there yelling at me when we have the chance of a lifetime here! Orphaned kids don't just show up on your doorstep, especially in this village. We have a shot to finally become fathers. Why isn't that enough for you?"

George heads back to the cauldron and dunks the dirty dishes into the cold water. "I just don't want to have to take care of two children at the same time when one of them should be my co-parent."

"Fine. You want to sit here and complain about all of our faults? Let's complain." Dream was no longer in control of himself. All he could see was red and, at that moment, he wanted George to hurt just as much as he did. "You never make dinner, you constantly complain about how miserable you are at work, you're always negative about everything, you're way too sensitive, and you don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself!"

George's heart was pounding out of his chest. He had seen Dream mad before, but never like this. But George wasn't about to apologize either. "You know what? Fuck you Dream. There! I said it! FUCK. YOU. I'm not going to sit here and take this shit from you. Not tonight."

"YOU STARTED THIS!" Dream yells. "Did you really expect me to take all of that bullshit from you? I just wanted to share some news that I thought you'd be excited about."

"Sorry, but there's no way I'm raising a child with you, asshole," George mumbles.

"FINE!" Dream screams. He heads towards the door but stops short. He yanks off his ring and throws it on the table. It bounces slightly, making a metallic echo. Dream storms out, slamming the door behind him.

"Ok, Lily. Time to lay down," Bad says, closing up a book he was reading to her.

Lily looks up at him with her big blue eyes. "Just one more, Darrie! Please?"

Bad scoops her up in his arms. "Not tonight, honey. Maybe I'll read you an extra story tomorrow."

"Ok, fine." She then clears her throat. "Hey! Skep! Can you read me a bedtime story?"

"Sure!" Skeppy calls from his bedroom.

Bad playfully glares at Lily. "I already told you no, young lady!"

"But you didn't say that Skeppy couldn't read me a story!"

Skeppy walks in and grabs the book off of Bad's bed. "Alright, which one am I reading?"

"None of them!" Bad laughs. "She's going to bed."

"Can I sleep in your bed again, Darrie?"

Bad shrugs. "Sure. Why not?" He gently lays her down, then follows Skeppy to the door. They all say their goodnights, then Bad carefully closes the door.

"You're good at that," Skeppy says, plopping onto the couch.

Bad sits down next to him. "Good at what?"

"Parenting!" Skeppy says as if Bad should've known the answer. "Dude, I have no idea where you learned to take care of people the way you do."

Bad shrugs. "I think I may have learned it from taking care of you all these years."

Skeppy gasps then smacks Bad with a couch pillow. "You're an idiot. You know that?"

"That's not nice to say," Bad reprimands him.

Skeppy shakes his head. "You know I'm just messing with you."

"I know," Bad states smugly.

A knock at their door draws their attention. Skeppy gets up to answer it, but the door swings open as Dream walks in. "I fucked up and I don't know what to do." Bad had to bite his tongue to avoid calling Dream out for his language. He already looked upset and unstable and Bad didn't want to be the one to push him over the edge.

"And a good evening to you too," Skeppy says, closing the door behind him.

Dream dashes towards Bad and takes a seat on the couch. "Dar, I need help." Bad started to grow scared. It was rare to ever see Dream in such an emotional state. His eyes were red and his skin was blotchy and pale. His lower lip quivered as he waited for Bad to say something.

Bad carefully wraps an arm around him. "What happened?"

"We fought," Dream begins to explain. "We fought about adoption and how George didn't think I was ready. He started going on about how I'm a child and how I don't have a real job. So I snapped and yelled back at him." Dream lowers his head, hoping his light hair covered his face enough to hide his tears. "And then I fucked up."

Bad studied him for a second, waiting for Dream to elaborate. But then he noticed that he didn't feel the cold metal of his ring against his warm hand. He looked down and only saw a slight pink discoloration on his finger where the ring used to sit. "Dream," Bad whispers. He pulls him into a hug. "Hey, it's going to be ok. You guys have fought before. You'll get through this like you always do, ok?" Bad feels Dream nod against his shoulder. "Ok, how about you stay here for the night? I think you and George both need some space."

Dream sniffles, attempting to breathe from his nose. "You don't mind?"

"Not at all!" Skeppy says, cheerily. "You can take the couch and Darryl and I can take the bed." Bad gives him a weird look. "Dude, it's just for the night. Don't make this a big deal. I'll be right back with a pillow and blanket for you."

Dream nods. "Thank you, guys."

Sapnap's night was going well. He had just finished writing a letter for Rose that he'd mail off in the morning. He ate a simple dinner of bread and steak before retreating to his couch to read a book that he bought from a writer in the village. Before he knew it, he was already beginning to fall asleep. Well, he was until he heard a gentle knock at the door. Sapnap stretches, then gets up to open the door. On the other side was George who looked like he'd been crying for days, despite just seeing him a few hours earlier. He was in a lot of pain and he held his closed left fist close to his heart.

"I fucked up and I don't know what to do," he says, holding back tears. "Please, help me fix this, Nick."

**A/N- If depictions of panic attacks bother you whatsoever, please skip to the bolded text below.**

Without hesitation, Nick pulls George into his home and sits him on the couch. He shoves a blanket into his arms and goes to the kitchen to get him a cup of water. When he comes back, he notices that George was sweating profusely. His brown hair was darker and stuck to his forehead. His hands were shaking and his teeth chattered as he shivered. Sapnap has no idea what to do. George was hot and cold all at the same time. His chest rose and dropped in staggering motions like he was having trouble breathing. Finally figuring out what was happening, Sapnap put the cup on the floor and wrapped the blanket around his trembling friend.

"There's a cup of water by your feet if you need it. I'll be right here when you're ready to talk," Sapnap says quietly.

George leans over and lays his head on Sapnap's shoulders. "I feel dizzy."

Sapnap wraps an arm around him. "I know." This wasn't the first time George had a panic attack in front of him. They weren't frequent or anything, but something changed in George when he got back from killing the Wither. Whenever something deeply affected him, he'd have an attack. The first time it happened, Sapnap panicked which only made George feel worse. The day after, Sapnap talked to Bad to learn everything he possibly could about panic attacks and how to help his friend. Now, Sapnap was George's main support when it came to the attacks. "Can we count to ten together?" Sapnap asks. George slowly nods. Together, the two count to ten to help George calm down slightly.

"George, you're going to be ok. I promise. I'm right here for you. Just tell me if you need anything. Ok?" George nods against Sapnap's shoulder.

"I'm losing control of myself again," George whispers.

Sapnap shushes him. "I want you to focus on my voice, ok? I'm right here for you." George closes his eyes as he listens to Sapnap talk about his work and how he tamed a donkey. He'd ask George questions to keep him engaged as he spoke.

**End of sensitive material**

Within 30 minutes, George was back to breathing normally. He still looked rough, but he wasn't in as dark of a place that he was in before. "Would you like to tell me what's wrong now?"

George sat up and held the blanket tightly against himself. "Dream said he wanted to adopt Lily."

George started to reach for the cup between his feet, but Sapnap grabbed it first and handed it to him. "How did that make you feel?"

"Scared." George takes a small sip from the cup. "But I didn't tell him that. Instead of telling him how scared I was to raise a child, I blamed it all on him. I told him that he was irresponsible and immature. I didn't mean any of it and I hurt him so much."

"What did he say back?" Sapnap asks, not really wanting to hear the answer. It pained him enough to see George upset. He didn't want to get even more worked up than he already was.

"He started yelling at me and he made sure to point out my flaws, just like I did to him." He lets out a painful laugh. "I deserved it."

"Well, you guys have fought before. I'm sure if you both talked it over, you'd be ok!" Sapnap hoped that his words would get some sort of reaction out of George, but George starred at the floor. George pulls his closed hand against his heart out of the blanket and opens it up, revealing Dream's wedding band. One of the diamonds was missing from it. Sapnap takes it from his hand and sighs.

"This fight felt different," George admits. "Every word we spoke was so loaded that it felt like we were shooting arrows into each other." He bites his lower chapped lip. "I don't think we're going to come back from this fight like we have in the past."

Sapnap hands the ring back to George, who wraps it back up in his hand and places it back by his heart. "Do you want to stay here tonight?"

George smiles sadly. "No, you've already taken care of me. I need to get back to the house in case Clay comes back. I need to tell him how I really feel before it's too late."

"I can walk you back," Sapnap offers. "I don't mind."

George stands up and hands the blanket to Sapnap. "No, I'm alright. I appreciate you being here for me, Nick. Thank you."

Sapnap gives him one final hug. "Of course, man. I've got your back. Always."

George wasn't surprised when Dream wasn't back at their house yet. He had probably gone to visit Bad and Skeppy. George hoped that Bad would give him all the advice he needed while Skeppy cheered him up. Maybe, he'd be happier when he got back. Then, he and George would be able to sit together and forgive each other for the harsh words they said. George decided to get ready for bed, in the meantime. He slipped into Dream's green hoodie that had badly faded over time. It's vibrant lime green color looked more like pastel green, but it was still perfect. George flopped the hood over his hair and collapsed into bed, feeling drained. Before he knew it, he had slipped into a peaceful sleep.

The sound of the door opening downstairs was enough to wake up George. He jumped up and ran his hand along the wall, trying to find the lever to turn on the lights. Unable to find it, he decided to just head out towards the stairs. He was just excited to hear Dream come back. He was ready to tell him the truth and to remind him that he loved him.

When he got to the stairs, he saw a dark, tall figure looming in the doorway. His silhouette was perfectly outlined by the moonlight pouring into the room from behind him. He was about to say Dream's name until he noticed that the man in the doorway wore some sort of floor-length cape and a crown.

It definitely wasn't Dream. If only he had done that perimeter check he said he was going to do.

———

Word Count: 3451

I'm sorry that this chapter was a wee bit heavy! Hopefully you still liked it! Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed! Love you guys!

Published: July 17th


	4. Time to Strike

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been peer pressured into making a discord for my stories! If you've enjoyed reading them and would like to join a community of other readers, click the link below. Thank you to @StrawberryClouds17 for telling me to make it. Ily honeyyyy! 💕 
> 
> https://discord.gg/A4D4ZHQ

George crouched down as he watched the figure move into the house. Though he couldn't see his face, he could tell that the person was looking around because their crown's shadow moved. "Search the house," the figure demands. "He's in here. I can feel it." His voice was cold and deep. It sent goosebumps up George's arms. Behind the man, about seven more figures entered the home. They looked close to George's size, but made squealing noises as they moved. They also had portruding ears. They weren't human. They reminded George of the zombie pigmen that his friends and him had encountered years ago, but they were slightly different. Behind them, a smaller, skinnier man walked in, holding a blue torch that gave the room an eerie blue glow. George dove away from the stairs to avoid being seen.

"Sir," the other man starts, "I don't think this is a good idea." He had a strong French accent and sounded just as scared as George felt.

The taller man laughs. "Oh, Vincent. I think it's kind of late to turn back now." George recognized that name. He didn't know how or where from, but it was so familiar to him.

"Yes, Technoblade," Vincent responds.

George listens as Technoblade's metal boots ring through the home every time he took a step. He looked out from behind his hiding place and could see a trail of blue ash falling from the torch in Vincent's hands. It made him feel better knowing where the ash came from, but it also shook him to his very core. He had seen the blue ash for five days. Had they really been in the area that long? George looks back to his bedroom doorway. If he was fast, he could look for a weapon. He knew he had to get out of there and that every second he spent hesitating was just another second that he would never get back. He could hear Technoblade's boots stomping closer to the stairs. George took a deep breath, then dashed into the bedroom as silently as possible. He waited a second behind the door to make sure Technoblade didn't hear him. Once he decided he was in the clear, George looked around for his bow.

The great thing about enchanted weapons was that they had a beautiful purple glow to them. George was easily able to spot Dream's sword sitting by his bedstand. Unfortunately, he was unable to find his bow. George peeks out from behind the doorframe and silently curses at himself for leaving his bow by the front door. Not having much of a choice, George attempts to grab Dream's sword. He rolls up Dream's hoodie sleeves and picks it up, but immediately drops it as a wave of power gets shot up his arm. The sword falls to the floor with a loud clanking noise. George had no idea how his friends were able to fight with enchanted swords when it hurt so much just for him to pick up. He begins to panic as he hears Technoblade's boots coming up the stairs. He was moving faster than before. There was no way he didn't hear George drop the sword. George shakily picks the sword up just in time to see Technoblade enter the room.

Technoblade had a build similar to Dream, making him look huge underneath the thick red robe he wore. His crown was tilted on his head and sat on a nest of pink hair. George puffed out his chest and narrowed his eyes in an attempt to look just as intimidating as Technoblade did. But there was no way he could compete with Technoblade's presence. He towered over George and made his shoulders feel heavy just by looking at him.

The pink-haired man glanced down at George's trembling arm and scoffed. "You're seriously the man I've been worried about?" He laughs as he draws his sword. It was black and looked like it had cracks all over it. A glowing purple light filled in the cracks, warning George that it was enchanted. "You're a joke."

George tightens his grip on Dream's sword and takes a swing at Technoblade. The man didn't move anything except his sword, which blocked George's swing and sent him flying back. George stumbled until he finally regained his balance by grabbing an end table beside his bed.

Technoblade walks towards George, his golden boots hammering into the wooden floor. "I don't get it. You were supposed to be an omnipotent being. You killed my Wither. Yet you can barely handle a sword." George growls as he lunges at Technoblade. He jumps out of the way, causing George to swing the sword into the doorframe. "Are you sick or something? Why aren't you doing better?"

George grits his teeth as he tries to yank the sword free, his arms aching more and more with every pull. He manages to get the sword free and points it at Technoblade. "You need to leave! NOW!"

Technoblade pushes the sword away with his forefinger. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"What do you want?"

"I wanted you to join me. I have an army and you have skills. Well, at least I thought you did, but now I'm not as convinced. But that's beside the point. I want you to join me in taking over the world." Techoblade holds out his hand. "Please, join me. Together, we can show this world what power looks like. No one will ever doubt you again."

Seeing an opening, George swings the sword and manages to cut Technoblade's left arm open. "I said, GET OUT!"

Technoblade attempts to apply pressure to his arm, but the cut was too long and deep for his hand to do much. He takes his bloodied hand off of his wound and hits George in the head with the hilt of his sword. George drops Dream's sword and falls to the floor, holding his head in his hands. "I'VE GOT HIM!" Technoblade yells out of the door. "PIGS, TAKE HIM OUT OF HERE!"

Three of the pig creatures walk into the room. Two of them grab George while the third one picks up the sword. He squeals in pain as he attempts to hold it, eventually handing it off to Technoblade. He admired the weapon. It was well made, but it didn't stand a chance against his own sword. He shoves it into an empty holster attached to his leather belt and motions for the pigs to follow him out.

George tries to get out of the pig's grasp, but every time he moved, the pig's claws would dig into his skin. They weren't sharp enough to pierce his skin, but they hurt like hell. George tried yelling for help, but every time he made a loud noise, one of the pigs would hit him in the stomach, temporarily silencing him. He fought as much as he could, but the pigs still managed to get him outside.

Right out of the front door was a giant cage on wheels with six more of the pig things ready to pull it to its destination. In the moonlight, George was able to get a view of his foes. The pigs appeared to be the living version of the zombie pigmen that he'd met before. They wore a mixture of gold and leather armor and were carrying an assortment of golden weapons and crossbows. The smaller man that George caught a glimpse of before, Vincent, avoided eye contact as he opened the cage door. His dark hair was shaggy and hung in his face. He looked like he hadn't had a haircut in ages.

The pigs holding George forced him into the cage. When their hands were off of him, he tried to run back out, but Technoblade stopped him by point his black sword in his face as another pig closed the door. "If I were you, I wouldn't scream. Bad things will happen," Technoblade threatens. "We wouldn't want your precious husband getting wrapped up in this, would we?"

George had a split second to decide what he was going to do. He could stay silent and let these strangers take him God knows where. Or he could call for help and risk getting hurt. In George's eyes, he figured he'd get hurt either way, so he decided to take the risk. He took and deep breath and screamed, "DREAM!" at the top of his lungs. It was the loudest he had ever been before. Had he not been in this situation, he would've been proud of himself for it.

Technoblade snarled and turned to one of the pigs. He motioned to the house as he ordered, "Burn it."

Vincent pulls Technoblade's arm and makes him face him. "This wasn't a part of the plan, Techno!"

"That's not my name, Vincent," Technoblade growls. "What's my name?" Vincent doesn't respond. "WHAT'S MY FUCKING NAME, VINCENT?!"

Vincent lets go of him and steps back. "Technoblade."

"AND MAY THE WORLD NEVER FORGET IT!" He grabs Vincent's blue torch and throws it into a window, smashing it open. George watches as the area around the window erupts into blue flames.

"NOOOO!" George screams, reaching out towards the home. The flames were spreading fast.

Techno hits him with the hilt of his sword again, harder this time. George hits the bottom of the cage hard. "SHUT UP!"

George's eyes begin to shut as he feels himself slipping in and out of consciousness. He reaches towards the burning house and is only able to mutter, "Dream," before falling out of consciousness.

Dream couldn't sleep. He rubbed his finger where his ring was supposed to be, feeling extremely guilty. He should've gone back. He should've apologized to George. But a part of him wanted to be stubborn. George should be the one to apologize first. Dream only wanted to adopt Lily. He didn't understand why it escalated like it did.

Before he could get too caught up in his thoughts, Bad walks out into the main room to pour himself a cup of water. Normally, Dream wouldn't have been fazed by him entering, but Bad was wearing the most ridiculous onesie he had ever seen. It was bright yellow and had a tiny tail on the back of it. The hood pulled over his head had the face of a duck on it.

"Um, Bad?" Dream asks.

Bad finishes his cup of water and looks at Dream expectantly. "Everything ok?"

Dream covers just mouth to keep from laughing. "What are you wearing?"

Bad looks down at his pajamas and sighs. "I lost a bet."

Dream wheezes, but Bad hushed him, pointing to his bedroom where Lily was sleeping. "Why a duck?"

Bad puts his hands on his hips and dramatically states, "I didn't choose the duck life. The duck life chose me."

From the bedroom, Dream can hear Skeppy giggling. He walks into the room wearing an identical onesie. "No it didn't. I chose the duck life for you."

Bad rolls his eyes and playfully smacks his arm. He then turns his attention back to Dream. "How are you feeling?"

Dream sits up. "I'm better. Not amazing, but better. I just really want to talk to George about what happened."

Bad sits down next to Dream and rubs his arm comfortingly. "Everything will be ok. Tomorrow morning, you two will be able to talk and everything will be-"

"DREAM!" A distant voice yells.

Had Bad and Skeppy not both reacted to it, Dream would've thought he was hearing things. He stands up and peeks out the window. Everything seemed calm. "Did you guys hear that?"

Skeppy grabs his trident from its holder into he wall. He steps towards the door, but Bad stops him. "Hey, everything is fine, Skeppy."

But Bad was proven wrong when they heard the same voice scream, "NOOOO!"

Dream bursts through the door and whips his head around. He knew that voice all to well which only caused him to panic. It was George and he was in trouble.

Bad and Skeppy came out behind him, Bad now holding his weapon as well. Dream reached to grab his sword from his belt, but groaned when he realized he left it. Other people came out of their homes as well after hearing screams. Bad stepped over to the neighbor and asked the woman to watch Lily while the three began looking through the village for any sign of George.

The panic in Dream worsened when someone shouted, "FIRE!" while pointing to the same patch of woods that George had built their house in. Dream takes off running, only focused on saving George.

By the time the three got there, the house was engulfed in blue flames. Dream couldn't see the door anymore. He yelled George's name, but got no response. Dream looked around the home for an opening and found a spot where the flames weren't too high. He raced into the home and started yelling George's name again. Everything inside was destroyed beyond repair. Beside the door, Dream saw George's bow on fire, flickering with a purple glow as it burned. Dream picked it up and tossed it outside of the hole he came through, hoping that it wouldn't be destroyed. He looked up the stairs, but figured he couldn't get up there without getting hurt too bad. He was torn. If he went up there, he may die. But if George was up there and Dream didn't help him, George would die.

Dream's decision was swiftly made when he heard someone coughing from the upper floor. He rushed up the fragments of stairs left and saw someone leaning on the wall at the end of hall. "George?! Oh my god. George!" Dream was elated until he saw who it was.

Sapnap was the one coughing. He held himself up with his left arm, keeping his right one against his chest. Dream rushes to his side. "Where's George?!"

Sapnap glares at him and pushes him out of the way, heading down the stairs. "He's not here, Dream."

Dream follows Sapnap who falls to the ground in a coughing fit as soon as he's on the grass. He clutches his sides tightly as he gasps for breathable air. Bad rushed to his side and pats his back. As soon as his eyes fall on Dream, he says, "George is gone. Everything in there is going up in flames. By the time we get the fire out, there'll be nothing left."

Some of the villagers run over to the burning house, ready to put the fire out. Dream was thankful that the village had a firefighting team, but he knew that Sapnap was right. There's no saving the place. Dream then turns his attention to George's bow. It was no longer on fire, but the string was broken and it flickered even more than before. He reaches out to touch it, but just like his sword did when he first held it, it sent a surge of power up his arm. It hurt him even more than he sword ever did.

Skeppy squats down beside him and carefully takes the bow in his hands. He had been handling enchanted items for years, so holding the bow wasn't a problem for him. "Don't worry, I can fix this. It'll be good as new in no time." He holds his hand out. "Let's go, Dream."

Dream shakes his head. "No. Not until I find George. He's got to be around here." Skeppy places his hand on Dream's back, but Dream pushes him away and nearly knocks him down. "Don't touch me."

"Hey!" Sapnap yells. "Don't put your hands on Zak like that!"

"Leave me alone," Dream mumbles, standing up. He starts to walk away, but something behind him pushes him down. Sapnap stood over him. Dream had never been so scared of Sapnap before. In this moment, he looked like he was ready to kill something. Dream's eyes glanced down at his right arm, still positioned at his chest. He wore a black shirt with long sleeves, but the sleeve was missing from his right arm and was replaced with a sleeve of scorched skin. Sapnap didn't look like he was in pain. He was pissed and he was looking for someone to blame.

"No, you don't get to start this, Dream," Sapnap says. "You don't get to throw yourself a pity party. Not after the shit that happened." He pulls Dream's wedding ring out of his pocket. "If I see this off your finger one more time, I'm cutting it off. What you did was unacceptable, Clay."

Dream shoves the ring into his pocket as he stands up. "How could you say that this is my fault?! GEORGE STARTED THE FIGHT!"

Sapnap scoffs. "I'm not talking about the fucking fight, Dream." He grabs a fist full of blue ash and throws it at him. "Whoever the ash belongs to did this. And had you done your FUCKING JOB today and did a perimeter check, you would've found them before they attacked."

Dream's heart sinks. Sapnap was right. The one time he missed a check was the one time he lost George. His mind races to find the right words to say, but he wasn't able to come up with anything. He could only manage to think of the same two words over and over again. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Sapnap snarls. "You know, if you had just stayed home, this wouldn't have happened."

"So what was I supposed to do?!" Dream yells. "Just sit there and let him insult me?!"

"He was SCARED Dream! He's so insecure with himself that he's terrified of raising a kid. But he was so ashamed of it that he reflected his insecurities onto you. Why did you have to yell back at him?"

"How do you know all of that?" Dream asks.

"He showed up at my place and had a panic attack," Sapnap explains. "An attack that you should've been there for. But you were too busy threatening your marriage to notice that he was starting to spiral."

"Guys, this isn't going to help anyone!" Skeppy yells, getting in between them. "Quit acting like assholes. Let's all go back to my place so we can figure out what to do next."

Sapnap frowns at Dream. "I hope you're happy with your choices. You can't ever take back what you did."

———

Word Count: 3087

Published: July 18th


	5. Hot Stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been peer pressured into making a discord for my stories! If you've enjoyed reading them and would like to join a community of other readers, click the link below. Thank you to @StrawberryClouds17 for telling me to make it. Ily honeyyyy! 💕 
> 
> https://discord.gg/A4D4ZHQ

As everyone waited outside of the medic's home for Nick, Skeppy worked on restringing the bow. Dream was expecting to hear screams of pain from outside, but he never heard any. Either the medic's home had thick walls or Nick was taking it like a champ.   
The medic opens the door and walks out, looking at Dream. "He's asking for you, Clay." Dream reluctantly got up, not ready to face Sapnap. He was half expecting to get an earful from him when he walked in, but instead, he was greeted by a weak smile. Sapnap was stretched out on a table with a pillow under his head. Beside him was a small table filled with all sorts of tools and gauze as well as a cup of water. After catching a slight glimpse of Sapnap's arm under normal lighting, he quickly looked away, not thinking he could stomach the view. All he saw was wet, white as snow skin covered in blisters that were still bleeding.   
"It's ok," Sapnap hoarsely laughs as he notices Dream look away. "I can't look at it either."   
Dream sits on the other side of Sapnap to avoid his burnt arm. "Damn, it smells awful in here."   
"That'd be me. Burnt flesh isn't exactly a pleasant thing to smell." Dream's stomach turns as he tries to focus on a spot on the wall. "Dude, you look really pale," Sapnap points out.   
Dream takes a couple of shallow breaths. "I would just rather not think about your arm."   
Sapnap nods. "Ok, that's fair." He bites the inside of his cheek, nearly losing himself in thought for a second. "I'm sorry."   
"For what?" Dream asks. "I'm the asshole that caused everything to go wrong, not you."   
"No you're not, Dream," Sapnap assures him. "I'm the asshole here. I was so mad that everything happened and you were the first person I saw when I was ready to explode. George was the one who started it. He knew what to say to set you off and he said it. I should've been there for both of you and I'm so sorry."   
"But you're right, Nick," Dream says. "I didn't do a perimeter check like I was supposed to."   
Sapnap reaches out to Dream to touch his arm. "Clay, you were in a rough spot. George beat you down with something you wanted to share with him. I understand both of you in this situation and I'm sorry I ever made you think that it was just your fault."  
Dream relaxes a little in his seat. "Thank you, Nick. I forgive you." The two sit in uncomfortable silence for a minute, not quite knowing how to continue a conversation. "So, has the medic given you and information about your arm?"   
"Yep. My arm will never be the same again," he says sadly. "It'll be healed in three weeks, but it's gonna leave a scar all the way down my arm. My skin is going to tighten which means moving my arm will be harder and more painful. I also can't close my hand all the way so that's concerning." He closes his eyes and frowns. "Why is it that the second George goes missing is the second I won't be able to help?"   
Dream laughs. "I know you well enough to know that you're coming whether you're injured or not."   
Sapnap smirks. "You're right." His smile drops. "I just don't know how I'm going to use my sword. There's no way I'm going to be able to use my right arm and my left arm is dumb and can't do the things that my right arm can."   
"We will figure it out," Dream states. "I promise."  
The medic walks into the room and grabs some sort of cream from the side table. "Nick, you're going to have to keep your burns well moisturized. Use this cream twice a day for three weeks and your arm will be healed. Also, keep your arm wrapped. I'll give you enough gauze and medical tape to last you the three weeks." Sapnap's face contorts into absolute pain and he bites the inside of his cheek as the medic gently spreads the cream across his arm. He grabs Dream's hand and squeezes the hell out of it, but Dream didn't mind. He just wanted his friend to feel better. After a few painful minutes, Sapnap's arm was fully wrapped and ready to go.   
The two-step outside of the medic's home just as Skeppy finishes stringing the bow. "Feeling alright?" he asks Sapnap.   
"I'll feel better when we find George," Sapnap responds. "If we start moving now, we'll be able to catch up with whoever took him."   
"We can't leave now," Dreams says.  
Sapnap scoffs. "Are you serious? Your husband was just taken! Why are you hesitating?!"   
"Because we aren't ready, Sapnap!" Dream sits down beside Bad and Skeppy. "We are all exhausted and drained and you're hurt. There's no way we'd be able to win."  
"We also can't leave Lily," Bad says. "Her grandmother is going to pass any second now. She needs someone to be there for her when that happens."  
Skeppy claps his hands together. "I have an idea!"  
Bad whispers, "Oh boy, here we go."  
Skeppy elbows Bad, then begins to explain his plan. "One of us should stay here while the other three go after George. We need someone to watch the village anyway, just in case the people that took George attack."  
"In that case, I should stay," Sapnap says sadly. "I'd only weigh you guys down."  
Skeppy shakes his head. "No, you shouldn't be left alone to watch the village. I'd rather you go with the group. I think Dream should stay."  
Dream frowns. "Well, I don't care about your opinion. George is my husband and I should be there when he's saved. You should be the one to stay, Mr. Riptide."  
"You really think I'll be able to take care of Lily by myself?" Skeppy laughs. "I can barely take care of myself, let alone another tiny human being."  
Dream crosses his arms. "Well, I'm not staying here and you can't make me."  
"Fine! I'll stay!" Bad yells, standing up. "Come on, Skeppy. Let's go home. Dream, you're welcome to stay with us if you want." Dream stands up and the three say goodbye to Sapnap before returning to their home. 

When they got back to the small house, they saw the neighbor cradling Lily in her arms. Lily was bawling. Before anyone could ask what happened, the neighbor calmly says, "Her grandmother just passed. She needs you guys." Lily looks up from the neighbor's arms and sees Bad, Skeppy, and Dream all looking at her with worry in their eyes.   
She stands up walks to Dream and buries her head into his shirt. "We both lost someone and I'm sorry."  
Dream scoops the girl up and presses her head into his shoulder. "It's ok, Lily. I've got you." Bad opens the door for Dream so that he can make his way back to Bad's room. He lays Lily down on the bed and pulls the blanket over her shaking body. He heads back to the door, but stops when he hears Lily whisper, "Can you please stay with me, Dreamie? I'm scared."  
Lily calling him "Dreamie" sent a sharp pain through his stomach. Over the last few months of spending time with her, Lily had picked up the names that the guys all called each other. While it was cute, it killed him hearing her use the nickname George had given him. He desperately wanted George there with him. "Yeah, sure." He lays down beside Lily and, before he knew it, she was curled up against his side. Her small cries eventually turned into quiet snores as she drifted to sleep. Dream takes her small hand in hers and whispers, "I'll protect you. I promise."

As soon as Bad figured that everyone was asleep, he got up and silently got dressed, determined to not stay back at the village. He grabbed his bag and quickly grabbed everything he thought he'd need. His armor, his sword, enough food to last him a week, and a first-aid kit, similar to the one that he had when he stitched George up all those years ago. He grabs his black and red hoodie, then sneaks out of the house as quietly as possible. Bad steps carefully as he makes his way to the horse stables as if he was scared that stepping too loudly would wake the entire village. He slowly opens the gate but becomes instantly nervous when he saw Sapnap in there, untying his donkey's lead. He didn't know how he'd react seeing Bad going back on their deal.  
They lock eyes for a second, then Sapnap snickers. "I see neither of us wanted to be left behind."  
Bad laughs nervously. "Yeah. I guess so."  
"I can't believe that you were about to leave without me!" Skeppy whisper-yells behind Bad, making him jump. He had his own bag all packed and ready to go and his trident was slung across his back. "I thought we were a team!"  
Sapnap finally gets his donkey free and packs half a stack of leads into his bag. "We should probably go before Dream notices we've left."  
Skeppy unties a brown horse and pulls it towards the main gate of the stables while Bad packs some leads for it. As soon as they clear out of the stables, Skeppy hoists himself onto the horse and offers his hand to Bad to help him up. Bad secures himself behind Skeppy and wraps his arms around his waist, feeling comforted by being so close to him.  
Sapnap rides up beside him, holding the reins in his left hand while keeping his wrapped arm in his lap. "You guys ready?" The two others nod in response. He looks down and sees a trail of blue ash headed into the dark oak forest. With a deep breath, he shakes the reins and begins riding off towards the forest, ready to save George. 

  
George stirs awake, feeling hot and sweaty, yet cold at the same time. He tries to open his eyes but shuts them because the area around him was so bright. He once again tries to open his eyes and finds that the area around him was glowing. He assumed it was a red glow, but he was having trouble telling through his blurred vision. The blackstone under him felt cool to the touch, which felt nice against his hands and arms. He pushes himself up and holds the side of his head, still in pain from being hit. He looks around and takes in his surroundings. He was in some sort of cage, suspended over a large pool of lava. In the distance, he saw forests of blue and red trees. He was definitely in the nether, but this looked much different than it did when he was last there. When he got close to the iron bars around the cage to look around, he could feel massive amounts of heat radiating around them. He didn't have to touch them to know that he'd be badly burnt just by poking them.  
George then turned his attention back to the cage. Pressed up into the corner of the room was a crudely- made bed with blue wood that would probably give George splinters if he wasn't careful with it. The wool blanket wasn't put together properly and had strings sticking out of it everywhere. The feather pillow had a sizable hole on the side of it, allowing feathers to spill all over the place. There was also a broken furnace in the corner with gravel spilling out of it as well as some chains hanging from the ceiling. To George's surprise, he actually had everything he needed to make himself a weapon.   
George carefully pulls a few planks off of the bed, breaking them down into blue sticks. He grabs three and sets the others off to the side, then begins pulling at the loose string wrapped up in the wool. He ties the string to the sticks, making himself a blue bow. George then grabs a handful of feathers and digs through the gravel to find a few pieces of flint. He had just enough materials to make 12 arrows, which was a perfect amount of arrows to do some damage.   
"So, you're a bow guy," a voice says from behind him. "I wouldn't have taken you as an archer." George pulls the bowstring back with an arrow in his fingertips, whipping around to aim at the person behind him. It was him.  
_**Technoblade.**_  
He was eyeing George the same way a predator eyes its prey. His hair was now styled up and a little off to the side, framing the crooked crown on his head. The crown reflected the light coming from the lava beautifully. Techno was no longer wearing his long red robe. He just wore red pants with a fancy, white button-up shirt loosely tucked into it. It was one of those shirts that had the ruffles at the top of it. It was the kind that royalty wore. And George found it obnoxious. Had it not been for his black sword by his side, George wouldn't have seen him as a threat at all.  
"Where am I?" George asks.   
Techno laughs. "Put the bow down and we can talk."  
George snarls, "Not a chance."  
Techoblade takes a seat in front of the cage. "What are you going to do? Kill me?"  
"If I don't get my answers, yes."  
Techno rolls his eyes. "You can't kill me. Technoblade never dies. Now put the bow down before things get ugly." As much as George didn't want to follow Technoblade's request, it's not like he had much of a choice. He lowers the bow and lets the string straighten out, but he refuses to put it all the way down. He holds it tightly in his hand, feeling thin blue pieces of wood digging into his palms. Techno smiles. "Was that so hard?"  
"I did what you wanted," George tells him. "Now tell me where I am."  
"Uh, the Nether. Duh."  
George rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I got that. What is this place that you're keeping me in?"  
Techno leans back on his hands and smiles widely. "This is my castle. My army of Piglins built it. Impressed?"  
George shrugs. "Not really."  
Technoblade's smile falters a little. "Look, Dream, I wanted to make you an offer that you can't refuse."  
"Did you just call me 'Dream'?" George asks.   
Techno gives him a weird look. "Why wouldn't I?"  
George snickers. "That's not my name."  
"But-but you had the sword and the green hoodie!" Technoblade stands up and begins pacing. "You're exactly the person that Vincent described! Who the hell are YOU?!  
"George, at your service. I'm sorry, but you just royally fucked up." George laughs, walking closer to Technoblade. "You not only got the wrong guy, but you've got his husband. Dream is probably already on his way to kill you as we speak!"  
Techno thrusts his hands in between the bars and pulls George towards him, pressing his cheek against the hot bars. George wanted to yell out in pain, but there was no way he was going to give Techno that satisfaction. "I could fucking kill you right here, right now if I wanted to, bow boy. If I were you, I'd quit talking." He releases George with a violent shove, knocking him onto the ground. George reached up and carefully touched his cheek which felt raw and hurt badly. He didn't show it on his face, but he was in a lot of pain. Technoblade looks over his shoulder and yells, "A6D! GET IN HERE NOW!"  
It finally clicked in George's head when he saw Vincent come around the corner. It was the guy that saved Dream from drowning in lava. The guy who gave Dream those potions to help kill the Wither. And now, he was the guy that helped kidnap George.   
"Yes, sir?" he nervously asks.   
Technoblade smacks him in the back of his head. "You made me get the wrong guy! You ruined EVERYTHING, Vincent!" George could see the steam coming out of Techno's nose, he was so furious. He grabbed him by his black leather armor and pinned him against the blackstone wall, a foot off of the ground. "You better figure out a way to fix this, OR YOU'LL BE THE NEXT SACRIFICE TO THE BLOOD GOD!" He drops Vincent and walks away leaving Vincent on his knees.   
"I'll fix this!" he calls out to Technoblade as he leaves. He then looks at George as he says, "I promise." 

\------

Word Count: 2808

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I'm so excited to write these next chapters, so fingers crossed they come out as good as I want them to be. Thank you for reading!!!

Published: July 20th


	6. Bullseye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been peer pressured into making a discord for my stories! If you've enjoyed reading them and would like to join a community of other readers, click the link below. Thank you to @StrawberryClouds17 for telling me to make it. Ily honeyyyy! 💕 
> 
> https://discord.gg/A4D4ZHQ

Dream panicked when he woke up. Sapnap, Skeppy, and Bad were all gone. Dream asked around the area to see if anyone had seen them, but had no luck. The only reason why he was able to figure out where they went was that Bad's horse and Sapnap's donkey were both missing, as well as a stack of leads from the stables. In the horses' place, he had instead found Patches and Cat curled up together. Dream felt guilty for forgetting them the night before, but he was very thankful that they made it out alive. He scooped them up and brought them back to Bad and Skeppy's home. Their dogs took a minute to warm up to the cats, but they all eventually got along just as well as their owners did.

After some going back and forth on what he should do, Dream decided he'd go after his three friends and give them a good punch when he caught up to them. He wanted to be mad. He wanted to punch something and yell. But he knew that getting upset wouldn't do any good in this situation. He had to keep his cool long enough to find them. Dream grabbed one of Bad's extra backpacks and begins shoving supplies into it. It was only then that he realized his sword wasn't recovered from the fire. He forced himself to get up and walk towards the burnt down remains of the home, hoping that he'd be able to find it.

Dream was surprised when he found Lily there, firing George's bow at a small target she hung on a tree. Right be her feet was Dream's mask, now more broken than it ever was. It'd only cover the left half of his face and his forehead if he were to wear it. "Hey, Lily," Dream says gently.

"I already looked around. The mask was the only thing left from the fire." She fires another arrow and gets a perfect bullseye.

Dream picks up his mask and holds it in his hands, saddened that he lost his sword. "Thank you for pulling his out, but it won't offer enough protection anymore. I can use this." He lets it fall out of his hands, but Lily catches it before it hits the ground.

"You're just going to throw it away?" She asks.

Dream shrugs. "Well, yeah. It's not worth keeping."

"Maybe not to you, but it is to me." Lily carefully sets it down, then fires another arrow into the target. Another bullseye. "So, you're leaving?"

"What?" Dream asks.

Lily motions to his backpack. "You're packed up and ready to go somewhere. I figured you'd go after George." She fires one final arrow, which of course was another bullseye, then lowers the bow to her side. "So who am I staying with?"

"I'm going to see if the neighbor can watch you as well as the cats and dogs."

"Can I please come with you?" She asks. "I'll be good! I promise! I'll help you and I will be good."

Dream pulls her into a side hug. "It's too dangerous for you to go with me." He then grabs the bow from her side, wincing as he holds it in his hand, and puts it into his backpack. Once he found George, he'd be able to return his weapon to him. She sadly nods, picks the mask from the ground, and begins walking back towards the village. Dream spends a few minutes explaining to Bad's neighbor his situation and she agreed to take care of the pets and Lily. Once that was squared away, he bought an iron sword from one of the swordsmiths. It wasn't enchanted, but it'd do. With a final goodbye, Dream began walking in the direction of the blue ash. Unfortunately for him, he'd be making the trip on-foot because he had yet to tame his own horse.

As he went, he started getting flashbacks of the first time he ever left the village. He passed by the ravine which still had a staircase carved into the side of it. He smiled for a second, remembering that day, but his expression turned sour. Now, Dream was the one having to follow his friends. He hated being on this side of it, especially since they were probably quite a bit ahead of him. Dream also quickly found that the walk was not nearly as fun without someone to talk to. He'd take any sort of companion right now. A dog, a cat, a pig, anything. But this time, he was completely alone with no one to watch his back.

His walk was pretty uneventful, being that it was daytime and no monsters were out. To keep himself entertained, he began plotting how he'd kill those bumbling idiots that left him. Not only did it help pass the time, but it also helped him calm down a little. He was still pissed that they left him, but part of him understood why they felt like they had too. Dream wasn't exactly feeling stable at the moment. Right now, he was still numb, his mind in denial of everything. But the more he thought about it, the more heartbroken he felt. George was out there, somewhere, possibly hurt or beaten. Dream didn't even want to consider that he could possibly be dead. He felt himself feeling overwhelmingly emotional when he came across the first wooden shack that they had made during their first adventure. The inside was just like he remembered it, small and cozy. Besides some cobwebs in the corner, it was just how they had left it. Part of Dream wished that they left the bed here, but seeing that he still had some sunlight left, it was nothing a quick hunting trip couldn't fix. By the time he was finished, he had 6 wool and 9 mutton. Not having to share tonight means that Dream was going to eat like a king.

But little did he know that a knock on the door would change everything about his mission. He opens the door and looks down in shock. "Lily?"

The little girl stood in the doorway with a blue hoodie on and had Dream's mask resting on her forehead. Her blonde, curly hair was wild and I brushed and the torchlight made her deep blue eyes glow. She had a small backpack on. "I wanted to help."

"Lily, you're literally seven years old. I don't want you to get hurt."

Lily pushes past him and tosses her backpack onto the ground. "I'm not leaving. We can either be a team or I'll follow you wherever you go."

Dream picks her bag off of the ground and shoves it into her hands. "No, you're going back home!"

Lily drops the bag. "No! I want to help George and you don't have enough time to take me back to the village."

Dream hates that she was right. It'd set him back two days if he took her back and with the possibility of George being in critical condition, he didn't have time to waste. "You're stubborn. Did you know that?"

Lily smirks. "What can I say? I learned it from you!"

"I am not stubborn!" Dream defends.

Lily giggles. "Sure. Ok. I believe you."

"Stop talking like that," Dream laughs.

"Like what?"

"Like Sapnap!"

Lily shrugs. "You're the one that let me spend time with him." She grabs Dream's bag from beside the wall and pulls out George's bow. "I'm so glad you brought this thing!"

"I can't believe you can hold it without it hurting," Dream says as he begins to set up two beds.

"George would set up a target for me every day and he'd teach me how to shoot with this bow. I guess I got used to the enchantments." She runs her thumb across the handle as she looks at small engravings made around it. "Oh hey, I never noticed this before." Dream walks over to her and looks at the engravings. There was a smiley face, a pair of devil horns, a panda, and a diamond all carved into the wood. The purple enchanted glow outlined each of the symbols. Dream smiled warmly, knowing that each symbol represented his friends. But below them was one last symbol. It was a lily-pad.

"Hey, kiddo. Let's eat a quick dinner and get to bed, alright? We need to get moving as early as possible if we want a shot at catching up with everyone else." Dream shoves some mutton into the old furnace.

Lily pulls a saddle out of her bag. "I was already a step ahead of you." As much as he didn't want to admit it, Dream was happy she was with him. She gave him a way to forget about all of the bad going on, even if just for a moment.

Sapnap was exhausted from staying up for nearly 18 hours. He envied Bad who was able to sleep while Skeppy had his arms around him, holding the reins in Bad's lap. Sapnap couldn't understand how Skeppy had so much energy still. It was like he didn't need sleep to function properly. As the sun started to set, they could see their first destination in the distance. The desert village. Sapnap quickly spotted Mega, who was sitting in the watchtower. When he saw them pulling up on their steeds, he quickly rushed down, probably to grab the other friends they had made. Despite the dire situation, his heart still fluttered when he thought about Rose. When they reached the outskirts of the village, Mega and Rose were standing together, looking quite excited.

Sapnap jumped off his donkey and pulled Rose into a loose side hug while Skeppy woke Bad up to help him down. "What are you guys doing here?!" Rose asks excitedly. Her eyes trail down to Sapnap's arm all wrapped up. "What happened?"

Sapnap closes his eyes tightly. "Rose, George was kidnapped and the house I told you that he was building was burnt to the ground."

Rose steps back and covers her mouth. "Oh my god."

"We are on our way to find him, but we need to crash here for the night, if you don't mind," Sapnap says.

Rose nods. "Of course you can stay the night." She looks over Sapnap's shoulder. "Where's Dream?"

Sapnap chuckles. "Yeah, about that. We kind of left him."

"You know he's going to catch up and kill you eventually, right?" Rose sighs. "It'd be a shame if I lost you."

Sapnap rolls his eyes. "He won't kill me. I'm his favorite human." He pulls his donkey behind him as he and Rose walk towards the large warrior home.

Bad yawns and follows them. "I need to get some sleep. I haven't stayed up this long in a while."

"Sleep well!" Skeppy calls out to him. Mega turns to walk back towards the watchtower, but Skeppy stops him. "Hey, is it cool if I talk to you about something?" Mega signs something in sign language then walks off towards the watchtower. Skeppy runs up behind him. "Thank you so much, Mega. You have no idea how much I need this." Mega rolls his eyes, wishing Skeppy could understand that he just signed, "Fuck off." The two climb to the top of the tower. Mega sits in his chair and readies an arrow in his bow while Skeppy sits on the ground.

"Ok, so, I don't quite know how to put this into words," Skeppy says to Mega. "Well, you know Bad, right? I've got, like, feelings for him or something. And it's weird because I've liked him for a while but I don't know if he likes me back or if he's just a really nice person who gives compliments. It's so confusing and I hate it." He pulls his legs up to his chest and buries his head into his knees. "I wish it was as easy as Dream and George make them look." Skeppy looks up at Mega, who isn't paying any attention to him at all. "Ok, you could at least pretend to be listening. We've visited the village a lot these last few years. I thought we were friends!"

Mega looks Skeppy dead in the eyes and states, "I literally despise you."

Skeppy stands up. "OH MY GOD! YOU TALKED!" Mega leans back in his chair and pulls his shirt up to cover his mouth, visibly annoyed by Skeppy. Skeppy laughs. "If you can talk, you can give me advice!"

"I'm not giving you anything," Mega responds.

"Well, fine. I'll go talk to someone else," Skeppy says, standing up.

"You have no other options here," Mega says, turning his attention back to the village.

Skeppy scoffs. "That's not true! I have many options! MANY!"

Mega smirks. "But yet you came to be because I'm the best."

"No, I came to you because you were the only one awake besides Rose." Skeppy means against the wall of the tower. "Look, I don't know what to do. I'd really appreciate it if you could help me."

Mega groans and puts the bow down. "You like Bad, yeah? Just tell him. You have nothing to lose here. If Bad likes you, he'll accept you."

"But what if he doesn't feel the same way?"

Mega shakes his head. "He does, you're just blind. Now quit pining and tell him how you feel. And if you ever tell anyone I spoke to you, you will die in your sleep."

"Thank you, Mega," Skeppy says, deciding to turn in for the night. He was going to tell Bad, he just had to figure out the perfect time.

———

Word Count: 2285

Sorry that this chapter is shorter than usual! I promise the next one will be longer. And trust me, you don't want to miss it! 😉

Published: July 22nd


	7. A Balanced Diet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been peer pressured into making a discord for my stories! If you've enjoyed reading them and would like to join a community of other readers, click the link below. Thank you to @StrawberryClouds17 for telling me to make it. Ily honeyyyy! 💕 
> 
> https://discord.gg/A4D4ZHQ

Every time a piglin walked by his cell, George aimed his bow and prepared himself to fire. Vincent has tried to convince him to lower his weapon so that they could talk, but George refused. The time that George wasn't ready to attack was spent trying to figure out a way to escape. He didn't know much about the rest of the fortress he was locked up in, but he also knew that the longer he waited, the harder it'd be to escape. The door to his cell was made out of iron and, as the pillagers did, the piglins removed the lever when he was locked away. But if George could make a bow, he knew that there had to be a way to make something to help him out. His eyes fell on the broken furnace, with pieces of rocks surrounding it. If he could manage to get one more stick, he'd be able to make a lever and leave.

"Hey," a voice says behind him. George swings around and loads one of the arrows into his bow. On the other side of the cell was Vincent, holding his hands in the air. "I need to talk to you."

"Fuck off," George says through his teeth. "I will shoot you."

"I know you will, but I need to talk to you."

George steps forward, still aiming at him. "I already told you, I'm not talking to traitors."

Vincent lowers his hands. "You don't even know me! How would you know I'm a traitor?"

"I know you gave those potions to Dream. I know you saved him from dying in lava. I know you convinced your friend back there to send the Wither out the morning we killed it." George looks him dead in the eyes. "So, tell me, why did you kidnap me? I know you remember what Dream looks like."

"It was on purpose," Vincent admits.

George shoots an arrow at him but makes it go over his head to startle him. "Why would you kidnap me on purpose?"

Vincent turns around and pulls the arrow out of the Blackstone wall, careful not to look away from George for too long out of fear of getting shot. "Techno is trying to raise another Wither and he wants Dream to help him kill everyone in the overworld."

"What does that have to do with me?" George asks.

"I can't leave here without Techno, but I needed to warn him that bad things were coming. By taking you, it showed him that someone was after him." Vincent hands the arrow back to George. "I'm on your side. I promise."

"How do I know I can trust you?" George asks.

Vincent looks away. "I have no way to prove it to you. I'm sorry." George lowers his bow, seeing the pain in Vincent's eyes. "George, I'm sorry that you had to be the one to come here. But if Techno took Dream, Dream would've been dead long before someone came to help him. Techno doesn't want you the way that he wants him. If Dream won't help him, he'll kill him."

"Well, jokes' on you guys," George says with a touch of sarcasm, "Dream is in no rush to get here."

Vincent looks back at him, worried. "What do you mean?! He needs to get here as soon as possible! I don't know how many more souls Techno needs to make a new Wither!"

George sits down and leans on the bed. "I said some pretty hurtful shit to him. He wanted to adopt this orphan girl in our village and I broke him down because I was too scared. I'm such an idiot."

"Did someone say orphan?" George hears Techno ask from down the corridor. Techno walks towards the cell, once again wearing his golden boots. "Tell me more about the orphan."

George stands up with the bow and aims. "You're not getting anything out of me!"

"Her name is Lily, right?" Techno asks. He smiles as he watches George floss his balance at the sound of her name. "She's that village kid with the light hair. Kinda looks like Dream. She's seven, I believe?"

"How did you know that?" George whispers.

Techno shrugs. "Must've been from that time I spent watching you."

George scoffs. "So, you know about Lily, but you still couldn't tell who Dream was?"

"Hey, it was dark and you had his hoodie and his sword," Tech says defensively. "A sword which, by the way, sucks." He pulls his black sword from its place by his leg. "Now this? This is power. Nothing beats netherite and a bit of brainpower." He then turns to Vincent. "Get me some obsidian and a flint and steel. I'm going to pay this orphan a visit."

George screams, "NO!" as he lets an arrow fly. It catches Techno's crown and pins it against the wall. He tries to fire another arrow, but he hears glass shatter as everything around him turns dark. He looks around, desperate to figure out what happened and suddenly feels a knee to his stomach. George clutches his sides and falls to the ground, his bow skidding off to the side. He feels around for it, but only finds the hot metal of a boot in his hand. The foot rises and kicks him in the face, knocking him onto his back. As soon as the blindness potion wears off, he sees Techno walking down the corridor, taking his blue bow with him. George turns to Vincent, who looked terrified. But George couldn't tell who Vincent was scared of at that moment. His sadistic boss, or the man in the cage, ready to rip his throat open.

"Lily, time to wake up," Dream says, patting Lily's head.

She opens her eyes and looks around for a second, momentarily forgetting where she was. After a moment of adjusting, Lily sits up. "Good morning."

"Good morning! I made some breakfast!" Dream points to a loaf of bread sitting perfectly on top of the furnace.

"Do we have any carrots or potatoes?" Lily asks.

Dream shakes his head. "No, I didn't pack any."

"What about apples or sweet berries?"

Dream's cheery smile drops. "No. No, I don't have those either."

Lily rolls her eyes and begins putting on her boots. "Darrie says that you have to have some sort of fruit or veggie with every meal."

"Well, Darrie isn't here. You can eat whatever you want!" Dream cuts a slice of bread off of the loaf and puts it on a napkin. "Eat up."

Lily ignores his offering and heads toward the door, grabbing Dream's mask and George's bow as she went. "Darrie said that I should always follow the rules, even when he's not there." She opens the door and heads outside.

Dream follows after her. "Lily! Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

"To find something healthy to eat."

"Lily, I'm not letting you wander off alone," Dream states.

Lily stops walking and turns around. "I'm going to find food, whether you come with me or not." She then continues her walk towards the forest.

"Lily, get back over here right now!"

Lily doesn't stop walking. She only yells back, "You're not my dad, Dream."

Dream rubs back inside to grab his bag and his sword, but when he walked back outside, Lily had disappeared into the trees. Dream groans as he begins his walk to find her, calling her name every few steps.

Lily stops through the woods, ignoring Dream's calls. She was so upset at everything going on that she lashed out. But she didn't feel bad about it. If anything, she felt proud of herself for standing up for herself, even if it was just overeating something healthier than bread. It was little, but it made her feel like she held some sort of power over her situation, which was just enough for her. Eventually, she could no longer hear Dream yelling for her. He must've gone off in another direction. Before she knew it, Lily stumbled upon a small patch of sweet berries. As she picked them, she smiled to herself, knowing Bad would be proud. A noise behind her makes her jump, accidentally scratching her hand on some of the thorns.

"Dream! You scared me!" She yells, rubbing her hand. "Look what you made me do!" She turns around and looks up, only to find a different man looking at her.

"Are you ok? I didn't mean to hurt you." The man bends down. "Can I see your hand?"

Lily shows her palm to the man. It was red and had a small cut on it. As he looks at her hand, she asks, "Why do you have pink hair?"

Technoblade smiles wickedly. "It's my favorite color."

"George, please calm down!" Vincent pleads as George paces his cell, a hand held up to his bleeding nose. "Getting max won't do you any good."

"Oh fuck you, Vincent!" George growls. "An innocent little girl is in danger now and I can't do anything about it!"

"Exactly! That's why you need to calm down!"

George releases his nose and shoves his arms through the bars, holding Vincent up against them. He ignores the pain that the burning bars caused as he looks deep into Vincent's scared, dark eyes. He kept his head tilted back to avoid touching the bars with bare skin. "I need you to understand something. There is a beautiful little girl who is in trouble. She probably doesn't even have anyone to help her right now. If you don't let me out of here, right now, you're going to have hell to pay when she dies."

"I-I can't let you out. I want to, I really do, but I can't. The piglins will kill you if they see you out. And even if you somehow got away, the other nether monsters would kill you before you got to the main portal. Techno won't tell me where his other portals are so I can't help you."

George bares his teeth but lets Vincent go. He crumbles to the ground and wipes the dripping blood from his face. "Why are you letting this happen?"

"Because I can't control Techno." Vincent gets on his knees to be at the same eye-level as George. "He's a good man. He's just lost. I need Dream to come here and show him that he's not as powerful as he thinks. If anyone can talk sense into Techno, it's Dream."

George wipes his wet eyes. "Why would Dream be able to help him more than you?"

"Because he respects Dream." Vincent bites the inside of his cheek. "I'm nothing but an expendable pawn. I want to escape just as much as you do."

George wipes his hand on his pants, leaving a hideous red streak down the pant leg. "Look, I don't know what your angle is here, but if you help me, I'll help you, Vincent."

"My friends call me A6D."

George shrugs. "Good for them, Vincent. Now you better hope to whatever blood god you worship that Lily lives when Techno attacks. If she doesn't, you'll be the first person I kill when I get out of here."

"Do you think my hand is going to be ok?" Lily asks the man in front of her.

"Of course, Lily. You'll be just fine!" Techno coos.

Lily looks up from her hand. "How did you know my name?"

Technoblade nonchalantly laughs. "You told me, silly!"

Lily narrows her eyes and tries to pull her hand free, but the man tightens his grip on her. "Let me go!"

"Not until I fix your hand!" Technoblade pulls her hand, yanking her forward.

Lily hits Techno with all of her might, doing everything she can to try and get away. He tightens his grip around her wrist, making her yelp in pain. Finally deciding that there was no way she'd get away on her own, she screams, "DREEEAAAM!" at the top of her lungs. Technoblade's eyes widen as he picks Lily up with one arm, pulling his sword out with another. Lily looked at the sword and became confused. He was holding Dream's sword.

It didn't take long for Dream to find them after Lily yelled his name. He held his iron sword up towards Technoblade as soon as he saw him. "Put her down!"

"And you must be Dream!" Technoblade says happily. "I've been looking for you!"

Dream yells, "PUT HER DOWN NOW!"

"Dream, let's talk about this," Techno says gently. "I've been meaning to talk to you and I feel like this is an awful first impression. Hi, my name is Technoblade." Dream steps towards Techno, but Techno places the sword blade under Lily's chin. "Take another step and I'll kill her."

"What do you want?" Dream asks, backing off slightly from Techno.

"Well, first, I want to kill the orphan. Then, I want to tell you about my plan to take over the world."

Dream looks at Lily, who was ready to cry. "It's going to be ok. I promise."

Techno presses the blade into Lily's skin, making her cry out in pain. Dream charges Technoblade and digs his sword into his stomach. He drops Lily and she crawls away, holding the bottom of her head as it began to bleed. Techno pushes Dream away from him and points his bloodied sword at him. "I don't want to fight you."

"Wait, you have my sword. How the fuck do you have my sword?!" Dream swings at Techno, but he blocks it.

"I took it the same night I took your precious husband."

Dream fills with rage as he looked at the man that took George. "You fucker!" He swings at Technoblade again, but Techno catches Dream's sword with his own, fighting to keep the blade away from him with all of his strength.

"If I were you, I wouldn't kill me. The sword is cursed with vanishing. Kill me, and you'll never see it again." Techno kicks Dream, making him stagger backward.

Dream shakes his head as he fights to regain his balance. "I find it funny that you think I care about a sword right now." He flips the blade around in his hand to go in for another swing, managing to hit Technoblade again. Techno falls to the ground and begins coughing up blood.

He laughs. "This has been fun, Dream. I'm glad that you're the one I need. Meet me in the Nether. And bring that orphan with you. I could use another sacrifice to the blood god."

Dream holds his blade against Techno's throat, ignoring his words. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now."

Techno's smile falls. "Because you need to work on how much you hesitate." He kicks Dream and rolls over to get on top of him. He holds Dream's wrists down with his knees, crushing him underneath his weight. "You hesitate too much, Dream. You had your chance." He holds his sword above Dream, ready to plunge it into his chest. "I didn't want to kill you. I liked you, you know?" The sword comes swinging down, but it never hits Dream. Technoblade vanishes into thin air as if he was never there. The only thing in his place was an arrow. Lily stood a few feet away, George's bow in her hands. she was breathing heavily and blood trickled down her neck.

Dream stands up and rushes towards her, carefully tilting her head up. "Are you ok?"

Lily swats Dream's hand away from her. "I'm fine. Let's just go."

Dream grabs her hand. "I need to take you home. This is way too dangerous for you."

"But if you leave me alone, he will only come back and get me," Lily says with a bit of fear in her voice.

"But he died, Lily."

Lily shakes her head. "If there's not a body, then you can't call anyone dead."

Dream nods. She was right. They had no idea if that guy would be back or not. "Ok. Let's get you fixed up and then we can head out. You'll have to help me find a horse."

Lily begins walking back to the shack, pulling Dream behind her. "Sounds like a deal."

Technoblade opens his eyes and smiles. He was right back in his base, standing beside his respawn anchor. He walks back towards George, eager to talk to him. He walked quicker than he ever had before, practically running to get there. George was curled up in his cage, talking to A6D, who looked concerned. As soon as they saw him, they both stood up, ready to hear what he had to say. "The orphan is no more," he brags. "I even managed to get a good few hits in on Dream. I have a feeling we won't be seeing either of them anytime soon." Techno smiled as he walked away, knowing he broke something in George. George fell back to the floor, looking numb and it made him feel amazing.

George couldn't begin to process what he was told. Lily was gone and Dream was hurt. He couldn't breathe anymore. All he could do is look at Vincent as he plotted his death.

———

Word Count: 2882

Another chapter done! I hope you guys enjoyed!!! <3

Published: July 23


	8. Who’s the Pillager Now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been peer pressured into making a discord for my stories! If you've enjoyed reading them and would like to join a community of other readers, click the link below. Thank you to @StrawberryClouds17 for telling me to make it. Ily honeyyyy! 💕 
> 
> https://discord.gg/A4D4ZHQ

Skeppy made sure to wake up early so he could make Bad breakfast in bed. Bad was always the one taking care of breakfast, so Skeppy wanted to give him the morning off. It'd also be a great way to show Bad how he felt about him. There was only one problem with this otherwise terrific plan...Skeppy had no idea how to cook. Packed away in the chest beside the warrior house's funcances was a collection of cookbooks. He pulls one out and begins to read, but quickly becomes overwhelmed with all of the directions. He couldn't believe that making simple pancakes and bacon required so much. Instead of thoroughly reading over the directions, he decided to just mix all of the pancake ingredients into the same bowl.

The mixture was hard for him to stir together and had many lumps that he tried his best to fix. Once the batter was smooth with no lumps whatsoever, he returned to the book. He internally groaned when he saw that part that said to mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, then felt even stupider when the book said that lumps in the batter were perfectly fine. Skeppy didn't care though. There was no way that lumps would make the difference between good or bad pancakes.

Skeppy then pulled out a pan to begin cooking the bacon. He placed a handful of charcoal onto the burner and waited for it to catch fire, then placed a pan on top of it. He carefully laid the strips of bacon onto it and eagerly waited for the bacon to sizzle. Once it started bubbling and popping with grease, he placed a lid over it and turned his attention back to the pancakes. He pulls out a cookie sheet and pours the pancake batter into little circles. Skeppy carefully places the cookie sheet into the furnace, slightly burning himself in the process. But he didn't care. This was going to be perfect.

Bad yawns in his bed, slowly waking up. He blinks his eyes as he adjusts to the light in the room, then notices Skeppy smiling at him by a furnace. "Skeppy? What are you doing up so early?"

"I'm making you breakfast! Well, it's going to be for everyone, but I mainly made it for you. I want to talk to you about something while we eat." He gestures to the furnace. "I'm making eggs and bacon."

Bad walks over to him. "Skeppy! That's so kind of you!" He looks down at the singular pan on the top of the furnace. "Have you not made the pancakes yet or something?"

"What do you mean?" Skeppy asks.

"Skeppy, you make pancakes with a pan."

"I knew that!" Skeppy says.

Bad looks at the empty bowl of batter. "So, is that what's in the covered pan? Skeppy, you have to flip them over."

Bad grabs the pan lid, but Skeppy holds his hand down. "Bad, you make us breakfast all of the time. Let me do this for you."

"Skeppy, I appreciate that you wanted to do this for us, but you don't know how to cook."

Skeppy scoffs. "I AM TOO! Just, please, let me do this one thing!" He grabs the pan lid. "Look, my bacon is amazing so far!" He lifts the pan just as grease pops, landing right on his arm. He drops the pan and yelps in pain. "The HURTS! What IS THAT?!"

Bad picks the lid up off of the floor. "It's bacon grease, Skeppy. It burns."

Skeppy looks back in the pan. "That stuff is lethal!"

"Can you hand me something to flip the bacon with, please?" Bad asks.

"Why do you want to flip the bacon?"

Bad looks at Skeppy, trying to best find a way to explain it to him in the easiest way possible. "Well, you need to cook both sides of the bacon. I'm sure the first side is already cooked." Bad grabs a fork and tries to flip the bacon, but Skeppy stops him. "Skeppy, please let me help you."

"No, Bad. I want to do this on my own!" He grabs the fork from Bad and tries to flip the bacon, but the grease pops at him. He drops the fork into the pan as he shakes his hand. "This bacon is EVIL!"

Bad sighs as he grabs another fork to fish out the first one, now covered with grease. "Skeppy, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. That's what I'm here for."

Skeppy frowns. "I just really wanted to do something nice for you."

Bad hugs him. "And this was nice!"

"But, I sucked?" Skeppy says.

Bad lays his head against Skeppy's. "It's the thought that counts, Zak."

Skeppy smiles, not wanting to move. Bad was always the sweetest when it came to this sort of thing. He closed his eyes and listened to Bad's heartbeat as Bad continues cooking the bacon. Bad's chest suddenly rises as he sniffs the air. "Skeppy, what's that smell?"

Skeppy lifts his head. Something was burning. Le looks down and notices a cloud of smoke beginning to form around their legs. He pulls open the furnace and finds that this pancakes her now on fire. "SHIT!" He pushes Bad away from the furnace and grabs the cookie sheet, but cries in pain because he just grabbed a hot pan with his bare hands. He drops it onto the ground so that his hands wouldn't get badly hurt. The fire around the pancakes then spread to the wooden floor of the large house.

Bad rushes over to Sapnap and begins aggressively trying to wake him up. "SAPNAP! THERE'S A FIRE! GET UP!"

Sapnap opens his eyes and glares at Bad. "I'm trying to sleep here!"

Bad grabs his face and turns it towards the fire. "WE NEED TO LEAVE!"

Sapnap jumps out of bed and grabs Bad, pulling him towards the door. He was only in his underwear, but he didn't care. After burning his arm, he was not ready to hurt himself even more with fire. Skeppy attempts to stomp out the fire, but after Bad screams his name, he abandons his efforts and runs outside.

"SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!" Bad screams. "THERE'S A FIRE!"

Multiple townspeople come running with buckets of water, ready to help put the fire out. They were followed by Mega, who looked like he was ready to kill them. He began signing with his hands and, for the first time ever, the three were thankful that they couldn't understand him.

"What happened?" Sapnap asked. "What did you two muffins do?"

"I made breakfast," Skeppy says.

Spanap groans. "Well, that was one way to wake up, I guess."

"Morning, losers!" Rose yells. "I see you idiots nearly killed yourselves, again."

"You seem quite calm for someone who's home is burning down," Sapnap jokes.

Rose shrugs as she leans on him. "The fire will go out and we will rebuild whatever was broken. Mega is the one you need to worry about. He'll straight-up murder whoever did this." She looks at Skeppy. "I have a feeling I know who needs to sleep with one eye open."

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Bad asks Skeppy.

"What? Oh! Um, it can wait. I need to find a good time to tell you and this definitely isn't a good time." Skeppy crosses his arms as he looks at the home, now only slightly smoking since the fire was out. "It can wait."

George refused to speak to A6D. He was instead focused on making his escape. He had to get out. He had to find Dream and their friends and make sure they were all ok. His hands were shaking as he put together a lever, trying his best to contain all of his anger and sadness. George's heart was shattered, but he wasn't about to show it. The last thing he wanted was for Techno to find pleasure in his pain. Before long, he was finally able to make a lever. He pressed it beside the door and crosses his finger as he flips it. The door pops open.

George stuck his head out of the cell and looked around. His cell was in the middle of a long corridor with no other halls or rooms. He had to be fast if he was going to escape without being noticed. He crouched down and moved as fast as he could, pressing himself up against the cooled Blackstone wall to keep him front sweating too bad. He made it to one end of the corridor and peered around the corner. He saw a piglin holding a crossbow with a quiver of arrows hanging by his side. George decided that if he moved fast enough, he could take the crossbow and make his escape. He took a few breaths, then charged at the pig.

He slammed it against the wall, making it drop the crossbow. George grabs it and bashes the pig in its head. It lets out an ear-piercing squeal as George fires an arrow into its head. George then hears all of the piglins in the area squeal back. He quickly grabbed the pig's quiver of arrows and resumed his position against the black wall. He straps the quiver to his waist as he walks, fumbling with the strap to get it to sit just right. He manages to buckle it right at his pant line which was perfect. He pulls the crossbow's string back to lock an arrow into place. He wasn't used to crossbows, but it'd be enough to get by. He ran into a couple of piglins that attacked him on sight, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. As he made his way around, he stumbled upon a large throne room, he started to enter it but jumped back when he was Techno walk in, accompanied by a pillager and A6D.

"Technoblade, we need to let George go," A6D says. "You don't know what he's capable of."

Technoblade scoffs. "He's just a scrawny kid who shoots good. So what?"

The pillager shakes his head. "Vincent is right. He was Withered to death and lived to tell the tale. He's not someone to be messed with."

"I've seen him try and fight with a sword. He's weak."

George bared his teeth as he listened to Techno talk about him. It took everything in him not to attack.

"Techno, this whole plan isn't going to work," A6D warns. "If George doesn't kill you, Dream will. Or Sapnap will. Or any of them will."

Techno bites the inside of his cheek and crosses his arms. "Who's side are you on, Vincent?"

"I'm not on any side."

Techno shakes his head. "Wrong answer." He grabs Vincent and throws him to the floor. "I thought you were my friend! My teammate! We were supposed to be gods together!"

"I NEVER WANTED TO BE A GOD!" A6D yells. "I JUST WANTED MY FRIEND BACK!"

Techno balls his fists but turns away from A6D. "Vinny, you don't get it. I lost everything. EVERYTHING! All I had left was you."

"You're the reason why you lost everything. You and your fucking Wither." A6D glares at Techno. "You created the thing that destroyed our village. You have no one to blame but yourself. And now, we are holding an innocent man captive because you want to convince his lover to help you finish killing everything."

"Shut up," Techno mumbles.

"No! You need to learn that this is not ok, Techno! George is a good man and you're breaking him. If you continue, there will be nothing left."

"SHUT UP!" Techno screams. "I'm the one in charge here, NOT YOU."

"I don't care if you're in charge!" A6D yells back. "I'd rather defend George to my dying breath than help you any longer."

Techno draws his sword. "Looks like your time is up, then."

George steps out of hiding and aims his crossbow at Techno. "Don't touch him," he growls. He didn't quite know what he was doing. He wanted to be mad at A6D. He wanted him to hurt the way he did. But no man deserved to die, especially at the hands of a sociopath.

Technoblade laughs. "Oh boy, what do we have here? It was a matter of time before you got out." He pulls A6D off of the ground and holds his blade against his neck. "You shoot me, he dies."

The pillager starts to leave, but George shoots him in the leg, making him fall over. "Let A6D go and I won't kill you."

Techno begins pulling him towards a balcony on the other side of the room. A6D fights against him but isn't able to get himself free. "You want me to let him go? Fine." He tosses A6D off of the balcony. "There. I let him go." A6D hangs onto the nether brick fences outlining the balcony for dear life. Seeing that there was no way A6D would be able to hold on for long, George rushed at Technoblade to attempt to save him.

He loaded a new arrow and shot at him as he ran, landing right in his shoulder. Techno groaned as he swung his black sword at George, sending him flying back and into the wall. He shakes it off and grabs his crossbow, loading another arrow just in time to hit Techno and roll away when he went in for another swing. George tried to load the third arrow, but Technoblade pulls the arrow out of his shoulder and throws it at him like a dart. He ducks as the arrow flies by and stick to the wall behind him. He pulls it down and loads it into the crossbow, his arm starting to burn from having to force the bowstring back so quickly. This arrow finds its way into Techno's leg. He swings his sword down but instead gets it stuck in the wall. He tries to get the sword free, grumbling as he pulled on it.

Seeing an opening, George runs over to A6D, who was just barely holding onto the fence. He grabs his wrists and begins pulling him up. "Just so we're clear, I'm not helping you because I like you."

"I don't care, just help me up!" A6D nearly gets over the fence, but the potions strapped to him get lodged in between two chunks of bricks. "I can't go up!" He tells George. He then gasps. "LOOK OUT!"

Techno comes up behind him and pulls George away from the fence. He grabs A6D's hands and whispers, "Blood for the blood god." He then pushes him back, sending him flying into the lava pit below. By the time George reached the edge of the fence, A6D's body had already been devoured by the lava. He then feels a sharp blade press against his neck.

"Ok, I'll admit it," Techno laughs, "You're a lot stronger than you look. Don't worry, we'll fix that." George then hears piglin squeals as his hands are tied up behind him. George glances down one last time at the lava and sees A6D surface with an orange glow around him. He swims to the edge of the lava pool and looks up at George.

A6D couldn't believe what had happened. Techno finally attacked him, George tried to save him, and now Techno thinks he's dead. He hoped that George would understand why he couldn't go back for him. A6D had another job now. He had to locate one of Techno's portals and find George's friends. It was time to call in the backup.

"Alright, Lily. Which horse should we tame?" Dream asks, looking at the two horses in front of them. One was black with white spots and the other was brown with white spots.

"The black one," Lily decides. "Darrie's horse, Roberto, looks like the brown one. I don't want to confuse them."

Dream smiles and begins taming the horse, feeding it until it trusted him enough to let him onto his back. It wasn't long before the horse got used to his presence. Dream then placed the saddle on the horse and begins buckling it to keep it from sliding off. As soon as he finishes, he shakes the saddle to make sure it's sturdy. He offers his hand out to Lily, picking her up and placing her on the horse. Dream jumps on behind her and wraps one arm around her, using his other one to hold the reigns.

"Will we get to see everyone else soon?" Lily asks.

"If we go at a steady rate, we will be there by tomorrow," Dream responds. "And they better be ready. Those fuckers are in for it when I get there."

Lily pokes his cheek. "Language!"

Dream rolls his eyes. "Whatever, you muffin." He shakes the reigns and the horse begins quickly galloping in the direction of the blue ash. He couldn't wait to be reunited with his friends again and kill them for being idiots.

———

Word Count: 2846

Another chapter done and it looks like both A6D and Dream are heading towards Sapnap, Skeppy, and Bad.....I wonder how that's gonna go.....

Thank you for reading!!!

<3 App1es

Published: July 26th


	9. Local Brewery

It didn't take long for A6D to find his way to Sapnap, Skeppy, and Bad. He had watched them for a week and knew what they looked like and, because of the trail of blue ash his soul torch left behind, he found the village they were staying at easily. The part he was struggling with was what he was going to say to them. What was he supposed to say? Should he tell them that he helped take George? A6D was pretty sure that Sapnap would make him die a slow, painful death if he found that out. Even Skeppy could be a potential threat in this situation. A6D eventually decided that he would approach Bad first. Surely he wouldn't be aggressive. A6D silently waited until Bad was alone, which took much longer than he expected. He ended up awkwardly hanging out in the village, waiting for Skeppy to leave his side. After what felt like hours, Skeppy finally left him just long enough for A6D to approach him.

He clenches his fists as he walks over to Bad, feeling unsure about his whole plan. "Um, excuse me?" he asks softly behind Bad.

Bad turns around and smiles. "Hey there! I don't think I've seen you around here before."

A6D forces a laugh. "Yeah, I'm new here. I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh my goodness! You have a french accent!"

"Um, yes I do, But I really needed to-"

Bad looks past A6D's head and yells, "SKEPPY! SKEPPY COME OVER HERE!"

A6D begins to stutter over his words. "W-wait I...he doesn't....we don't need to."

"WHAT?" Skeppy yells as he jogs over. A6D begins to panic even more when he notices his trident strapped to his back. "Everything ok over here?"

Bad bites his bottom lip to avoid smiling, but an excited squeal still escapes out of the corner of his mouth. "He's F R E N C H."

Skeppy gasps. "You are?! Quick, how do you say 'sand' in French?!"

"Um, le sable?"

Bad excitedly screeches. "Oh my goodness! What about 'house'? Can you say 'house' in French?!"

"'Maison'. Now can I please talk to you?" A6D begs.

"One more, one more!" Skeppy pleads. "How do you say 'Darryl' in French?"

"Why do you want him to say my name in French?" Bad asks.

Skeppy winks. "I heard French is the language of love." He smiles proudly as Bad blushes, then looks at A6D. "How do you say 'Darryl'?"

"Darryl," A6D responds.

"Yes, Skeppy wants you to translate it to French," Bad says patiently.

A6D frowns. "It's literally just 'Darryl'."

"What's your name?" Skeppy asks.

"A6D."

"How do you say that in French?" Bad asks.

"A6D."

"But how do you say it in FRENCH?" Bad repeats.

"Ok, listen to me," A6D says, annoyed. "You know how you can say words by parts? Like I could say 'A. 6. D.' It's in three parts. Right?"

Bad nods, listening to his explanation. "Yes, but it's one word."

A6D takes a deep breath. "First of all, it's not a word. It's letters and numbers."

"Ok, but what's the one word way to say 'A6D'?" Bad asks.

"THERE IS NO ONE WORD WAY BECAUSE IT'S THREE DIFFERENT WORDS!" A6D yells.

"I thought they were letters and numbers," Skeppy says, trying his best not to laugh.

"Are you two idiots done?" Sapnap asks from behind A6D, startling him. He slowly turns around, not wanting to face him. Of all of the guys, A6D was most afraid of Sapnap. He had already met Dream, so that didn't scare him, and Skeppy and Bad both didn't seem very threatening. Sapnap, on the other hand, was terrifying. He was skilled with a sword and had a resting look of disapproval on his face at all times. He looks at A6D and says, "Don't mind them. We share a single brain cell and it looks like it wasn't their turn with it."

"I don't even want to know what that means," A6D groans.

Sapnap crosses his arms. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I know where George went," A6D says. "I saw where a bunch of piglins took him."

Sapnap's expression turns into one of concern, which was surprisingly a pleasant change for A6D. "Can you show me where he was taken?"

"I can, but Dream needs to come with us."

"Dream isn't here," Bad explains.

A6D's heart sinks. "Where is he?"

"He's back at our village," Skeppy responds.

A6D shakes his head. "He's not. He's not safe."

"How would you know?" Sapnap asks.

"We need to go find him! He-he could be hurt or something!" A6D yells. He grabs Bad's arm and tries pulling him forward, but Bad doesn't budge.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. How would you know that Dream is hurt?" Bad asks. A6D's mind goes blank as he tries to search for an answer. He couldn't just tell them that Techno hurt him without revealing who he was. "Hello? A6D?"

Sapnap's jaw drops slightly. "You're Dream's friend from the nether!"

A6D looks at Sapnap with fear in his eyes. He was pretty sure Sapnap could smell the fear radiating off of his body which only made him feel worse. "Yeah. That's me."

"Uh, huh. Ok. Now tell me, what are piglins?" Sapnap attempts to cross his arms, but can't bend his wrapped arm all of the way. A6D felt better knowing Sapnap was injured. If he had to fight for his life, he may have a chance.

"They are these pig men that live in the nether," A6D says.

Sapnap's eyes trail from A6D's face and down to his black armor. He could see the same specs of blue ash embedded into the soft leather. Without thinking, he pushes A6D up against a nearby sandstone building. "Where is he?!" He growls. "WHERE IS HE?!"

"I-I can take you to him but Dream needs to be there!" A6D yelps. Sapnap's grip was surprisingly strong for someone who was hurt. A6D figured it was because he was angry about George. His fingers dug into his armor and began to hurt.

"Dream isn't here," Sapnap says. "Now you take us to George or I'll kill you!"

"Please don't hurt me! Dream has to be there. He's the one that Techno wants, not George." A6D begins breathing heavily as he watches Sapnap ball his fist to punch him.

"Why does this Techno guy want Dream?" Skeppy asks.

"Because Dream killed the Wither."

"Technically, Bad killed the Wither," Skeppy states.

"Look, we need to go find Dream!" A6D shouts. "Technoblade went to him and killed a kid and hurt him!"

"What kid?" Bad asks desperately.

"I don't know. Dream was trying to adopt her, though." He suddenly feels Sapnap's grip loosen on his armor as his mad expression leaves. For the first time A6D had seen, Spanap looked vulnerable. His deep, brown eyes began pooling with tears. His gaze drifted down as he stared at nothing. His eyes danced as if he was searching for something. After a moment, he let go of A6D and backed away. A6D's heart shatters when he sees Skeppy slowly wrap his arms around Bad as Bad begins to cry. He closes his eyes and holds his breath to keep from sobbing.

"Let's wait for Dream," Sapnap decides. "We can all grieve together as we go. We shouldn't leave him alone right now. Not after losing Lily too."

The three walk towards the warrior home together, leaving A6D awkwardly standing alone. He didn't know if he should follow them or not and he was too scared to ask. Sapnap stopped walking and looked back at A6D, nodding his head in the direction of the house. A6D took that as the signal to join them.

George did not enjoy his new living conditions. Because he had escaped, Techno decided to cahin him to the wall to keep him from moving too much. He could still stand up, but he couldn't go far. George's wrists hurt from pulling on his chains for hours. He had pulled so hard that the chains now had his dried blood on them from when they dug into his skin. But he couldn't feel the pain. He was starting to lose all feeling completely, which scared him. He found himself pulling at the chains more to feel something than to escape. George had long accepted that there was no breaking through them, but he wasn't ready to let go of feeling pain.

"How are the chains?" Techno asks, walking up to the cell.

George looks at his hands. "I don't know anymore."

Techno laughs. "Wow. You broke faster than I thought you would."

George shakes his head. "I'm not broken. I just can't feel pain anymore." He smiles to himself. "That just makes beating the shit out of you easier."

Techno sits down in front of the cell. "Those are some bold words coming from someone sitting in my cage."

"I'm only in here because you had your pigs put me in here. If it was just you and me, I would've kicked your ass a long time ago."

"Says the guy who couldn't swing a sword when we first met," Techno teases.

George looks away from Techno. "It was enchanted. Whatever."

"I'll tell you what," Techno says. "You get out of this cell, I'll give you the bow you made and we will fight 1v1 style."

George narrows his eyes. "I can't believe you think this is a game."

"It is a game," Techno replies. "It's my game. And I'm winning."

"You know, listening to you speak is the worst form of torture you could ever expose me to," George says.

Techno giggles. "Oh if you think this is bad, wait till you see what I've got planned for you tomorrow! Some of those pillagers will be stopping by to show me something new and you get to be our test subject!"

"Another totem of undying?" George asks. "Wow. How exciting."

Techno shakes his head. "If I'm going to create a stronger Wither, I need stronger soul sand. Those guys have figured out how to extract souls from living people and I think I found one hell of a soul to test it out on." Techno smiles as he watches George attempt to comprehend his comment. He then laughs when George finally understands what he meant.

"You're going to kill me," George whispers.

Techno stands up and brushes off his pants. "I'll be back tomorrow morning!"

As he skips off, George looks back at the chains around his wrists. He was determined to get free. He just had to. He carefully tried to pull his hand out of the chains, but the metal only dug into his skin more. He pulled a second time and noticed that the chains were moving up his hand. On the third pull, he understood what had to be done. When the chains slid down his wrist, it shredded his top layer of skin pretty bad. But had he not been looking at his hands, he would've never known that there was any sort of wound there. His inability to feel anything was quickly becoming an advantage. George took a deep breath and yanked his hand out as fast and as hard as he could. His hand was covered with blood, but it was free. He then did the same with his other hand. George looked at his wrists in awe. He somehow felt powerful at that moment, even though he knew he'd regret his actions once his body returned from being numb.

This time, George was determined to find a way out. He had until tomorrow to escape. He just had to figure out how.

A6D struggled when it came to making conversation. Ever since he told the three guys about Lily, they were depressed and didn't talk much. He was beginning to not be so scared of Sapnap anymore because he was no longer threatening. Instead, he was curled up on his bed with Rose wrapped around him, giving him comfort. Bad and Skeppy were sat together, similarly to Sapnap and Rose, expect they were sitting closer together and were holding each other as if letting go meant they'd never see each other again. Bad was perfectly seated in Skeppy's lap as Skeppy ran a hand through the other's hair.

A6D opened up his bag and grabbed his only instant healing potion he had. He carefully walks up to Sapnap and holds it towards him. "Here, this is for you."

"What is it?" Sapnap asks.

"Instant healing potion," A6D responds. "It'll heal whatever is under your bandages."

Sapnap pushes the potion away. "I don't take handouts."

"Sapnap," Rose says sternly. "Take the damn potion."

"No!" Sapnap says. "I don't want anything from him."

Rose takes the potion from A6D and slams it against the bed frame, shattering the glass. The red liquid splashes onto Sapnap's wrappings and seeps through them. Sapnap then carefully unwraps his arm and looks at it in awe. He had a large burn scare running up his arm, but other than that, it was healed. The muscles didn't feel tight and he could freely move his arm. "Thanks," he mumbles as he runs his fingers along his scar. "Do you make your own potions?"

"I do. I wish I had my ingredients with me. I don't have many potions on me." A6D digs through his bag which was mostly fire resistance potions. "I've only got nether wart and that's not enough to do anything with."

A knock at the door catches their attention. Sapnap starts to get up, but Rose pats his leg, her way of telling him to stay. As he watches her go, he asks, "How did you learn how to make potions?"

A6D pulls a small booklet out of his bag. "It took a lot of trial and error. I've written down every potion I've ever made in here along with its recipe."

Rose opens the door and begins laughing. "Hey, Sapnap?"

"What?" Sapnap asks, not able to see who's in the doorway.

Rose opens the door all the way, revealing a tall, very angry man that looked ready to kill him. "I think it's for you, Sapnap."

———

Word Count: 2387

Don't forget to join my discord server where you can talk to some pretty awesome people! I'm currently taking OC submissions, so if you would like your OC to be possibly featured in this story or in a future story, join the server! I will post the link below as well as in my comments!

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Published: July 29th


	10. This Boat has Legs

Now that he was free from his restraints, George was determined to escape for real this time. No more playing games or sneaking around. George was going to find a way out if it was the last thing he did.

Because he already escaped once, Techno made sure that the Piglins removed anything that George could potentially use to escape again. The broken furnace was taken, as well as the wood from the messed up bed. Even though he hadn't tried to sleep, he was still mad that the wood was taken. His only hope at making another weapon was destroyed. He picks up some of the rocks on the ground to see if they could be used for anything, but only found junk. George also started to notice how sticky his hands were becoming now that his blood from his wrists trickled into his palms.

"What happened to your wrists?" Techno asks, startling George. The man didn't seem to care that he was no longer restrained. He was just concerned about his torn up wrists.

George carefully runs one of his hands over the tears in his skin. "I pulled myself free." He looks back to Techno, expecting him to become furious. Instead, he leaves without saying a word. After a moment, he comes back with a roll of gauze and tosses it into the cell. George doesn't take it and, instead, looks at Techno, waiting for him to say something. "Did you lace it with wither rose petals or something?" Techno shakes his head in response. "What did you do to it then?"

"Nothing," Techno states. "I just thought I'd help you out."

George rolls his eyes and scoffs. "Ok, yeah, whatever." He picks up the gauze and tosses it back out of the cell. "I don't need it."

Techno throws it back into the cell, this time with more force. "You're bleeding. Wrap yourself up or you'll get it infected."

George throws the roll back at him. "I don't want your hand-outs. You don't get to pretend like we are on good terms right now."

Techno's eyes meet George's for a split second. It was just long enough for George to catch a glimpse of something in him besides his insanity. He was sad. George had no idea what he could possibly be sad about. He was getting everything he wanted. Why the hell would he be sad? Techno picks the gauze up off of the floor and slumps down against the wall behind him, facing George. He pulls his knees up to his chest and stares at George with his big brown eyes. George then noticed that they were bloodshot.

"Are you ok?" George asks, sounding a little more aggressive than he meant to.

"I killed my best friend," Techno whispers, losing himself in a daze. "I made him fall. I killed him."

George crosses his arms. He knew that A6D was alive, but Techno must've missed him getting out of the lava pool. And he wasn't about to tell him what he knew. "Are you expecting pity from me?"

Techno shakes his head, biting the inside of his cheek and he thinks. "No. I just needed to say it out loud, I guess. I've been holding it back for so long that I just had to say it."

"Some friend you are," George mumbles. "You know, if my friend was about to fall to their death, I'd do everything in my power to save them."

"That's because you're good, George." Techno covers his face. "You're a good man who cares so much about other people that you'd give your life if it meant saving them."

"You don't even know me," George points out.

Techno loudly exhales through his nose. "I know enough."

George walks over to the cell bars and sits down. He was so close to the bars that he could feel the heat coming off of them. But he was already so hot from the atmosphere in the nether that he was starting to get used to it. "What do you know about me that makes you think I'm good?"

"You built a house for you and your husband, you were upset when A6D fell, and you helped take care of that one orphan girl," Techno explains.

George feels a sharp pain in his heart when Techno mentions Lily. He had done everything he could to block out what he was feeling because he was scared that if he gave into his sadness, he wouldn't make it out alive. "That doesn't mean that I'm good, Techno."

Techno shrugs. "Sounds good to me."

"There are no good or bad people in the world," George explains. "There are only people. We all make mistakes. We all have bad days. It's how you recover from them that defines who you are."

Techno sadly laughs. "If you seriously think that's true, look me in the eyes and tell me I'm not a bad person." George slowly looks down to the ground, finding that he was unable to say it. He didn't think Technoblade was inherently evil, but he wasn't about to forgive him either. Eager to change the subject, Techno begins talking again. "You know, I used to live in a normal village. I was a pig farmer. I had a younger brother, Tommy, and two really close friends named Phil and Wilbur. Growing up, I was picked on a lot. I always felt so powerless. It was like nothing I did was good enough. So when I found that I could make a portal to another world, I knew I found my place."

"So, then what?" George asks. "Did you unleash the hellish terrors in here onto your village for revenge?"

Techno picks at his nails nervously. "Not on purpose. I mean, I wanted to show them what I was capable of. I wanted to show them that I had power." He closes his eyes and whispers, "I didn't mean to kill them, George. But the monsters went crazy and wouldn't listen to me. A6D and I barely escaped with our lives. Then when I made my Wither, it destroyed everything that was left. I wanted to rule everyone, but I didn't mean to kill them."

"If you didn't mean to kill everything, why do you continue your reign of terror like this?"

Techno shakes his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." George raises his eyebrows, trying his best to not look angry. Unfortunately, it didn't work. His scowl was permanently stuck to his face.

Techno stands up. "Alright, that's enough talking for me." He laughs. "You know, you almost got me to like you for a second. Nice try, man."

As soon as his footsteps are gone, George closes his eyes and allows a single tear to glide down his cheek. It left a cold trail down his face that made him shiver a little when the wind hit it just right. He knew he couldn't give up, but he had no idea what to do. Even if he got out, where would he go? He had no idea where the portal was. For the first time since he'd been there, he let his emotions in. He let himself hurt over Lily's death. He let himself feel ashamed for breaking Dream's heart. He let himself feel scared, half believing that he would never escape. His mind began spiraling to scary extremes, so in an attempt to keep himself from breaking too much, George tried to remind himself of all of the good times he had with his friends.

George thought back to the first real moment he shared with Dream in the desert village. The night that changed his life. He smiled through the pain thinking about their first kiss and how perfect it was. He then thought about Skeppy and how happy everyone was to have him back, especially Bad. Bad's smile was always contagious, so it made George feel a little better thinking about him. Then, he thought about his first trip to the nether where Dream and Sapnap were locked in a cage of iron bars. At that moment, he was pissed. But now, it was something they all could laugh about together. George was entertained thinking about that whole day. The stupid jail cell, the bonding moment he had with Sapnap, and the exploding bed.

_...the exploding bed!_

George looks at the bed and inspects it. While it was extremely torn down, it was still technically a bed. If he was lucky, he could get it to explode and he'd be able to escape. Realizing he didn't have any other option, George closes his eyes and tosses himself onto the bed, causing a huge explosion in the cell, knocking the floor out from under him. As he fell, he questioned why he thought that was a good idea. He plummeted towards the lava pool, bracing himself to be burned alive. But the burn never came. George instead landed on something leathery with long whiskers coming out of its sides. He looks beneath him and finds himself sitting on a peaceful creature with two legs. It gracefully swam through the lava as if it was water.

George laid on his back and looked up at his busted cell. From where he was, he could see Techno barking orders to the Piglins, pointing down to him. Normally, George would try to get out of the area as soon as possible. But after having a heart attack as he fell, he was exhausted. He also saw no way to control the creature he was riding on. All he could do was lay there and hope it took him to land.

Before he knew it, the creature had taken him to the edge of a blue forest. The trees all had a weird texture and had glowing mushroom lights inside of them. If the forest only had the trees, it wouldn't have been too bad. But the forest was also infested with endermen. Endermen always creeped George out. They would just stand and stare at you until you looked back. He kept his eyes to the ground to avoid looking at any of them. George would flinch every time one of them teleported behind him, but he kept walking, picking up a few blue mushrooms along the way. Eventually, he found an opening into a cave that went pretty far down. He broke a piece of a blue tree and patched up the hole he came from, then took a seat on the netherrack under him. He throws his head back as he takes a huge breath. He was finally out of his cage. But he still had a long way to go before he could get home. His first mission? Patch up his wrists before he dies from blood loss or infection.

"Dream!" Sapnap whispers as panic begins to bubble in his stomach. He wanted to move from his spot on the bed, but he couldn't make his legs move. Bad and Skeppy seemed just as scared as Sapnap was. Bad had sunk further into Skeppy, who's arms were pulling him against him tightly. The three watched as Dream slowly walked in with arms crossed. His piercing green eyes shot between all three of them. No one dared to speak.

"Is someone going to explain why the fuck you thought it was a good idea to leave me?" Dream asks.

Sapnap swallows hard. "We didn't think it was a great idea to take you with us. You're emotionally unstable. We didn't want you to be reckless just to get to George faster."

"You guys are so lucky I tamed a horse on the way here!" Dream shouts. "Had it not been for that, my journey would've been a lot harder!"

"You traveled on your own," Sapnap points out. "How hard could it have been without a horse?"

"You have no idea," Dream growls.

Behind him, Lily walks in, holding a kitten in her arms. "Look what I found! Isn't she the cutest?!"

Sapnap, Bad, and Skeppy all stare at Lily as if they were seeing a ghost. Bad gently pushes away from Skeppy to stand up. He walks toward Lily and falls to his knees. "You're alive," he whispers. He tilts her head up and looks at the wound under her chin. It looked painful, but it wasn't a deep enough cut to be concerned about.

"Yeah. She's fine," Dream says sternly. "Why wouldn't she be?"

Sapnap glares at A6D, who looked nervous. "Frenchie over here told us she was dead!"

"I thought she was!" A6D shouts. "I swear!"

"Why would you think Lily is dead?" Dream asks.

"Because Techno told me!" A6D replies.

"Techno?" Dream asks. "He's the one that hurt Lily. Nearly killed her!"

Sapnap stands up and pulls his sword out of its sheath, pointing the blade at A6D. "I want to kill someone and you're the only expendable one here!"

Dream grabs Sapnap's arm and pulls the sword out of his hands. "Stop, he's not the enemy, Nick."

"He helped Techno take George, Clay."

Dream snaps his head back towards A6D, tightening his grip around the enchanted sword in his hand. Just as he went to lunge at A6D, both Skeppy and Bad grabbed him, holding him back as he screamed at Vincent. "FUCK YOU! YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE PEOPLE! I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"Dream, please, I need you to listen to me!" A6D pleads. "George is still alive, but we have to go now if we are going to save him!"

Dream takes a few heavy breaths as he tries to recollect himself. This whole time, he'd been staying relatively calm. But when he found out that someone he considered an ally helped with George's kidnapping, he broke. After trying to fight against Skeppy and Bad for a few seconds, he stops and lets go of the sword, letting it fall to the floor. When it landed, it made a few sparks fly around it, which made Sapnap's heart race for a second. He was not ready to watch the place burn again.

Dream falls onto his knees as tears form in his eyes. Skeppy and Bad look at each other, silently agreeing to let him go. With his arms now free, Dream wraps them around himself, desperate to fill the gap in his heart. His numbness turned into an intense pain he had never felt before. It was as if George was already dead, despite A6D claiming that he's still alive. "I miss him so much."

Bad takes a knee and rubs circles into Dream's back. "I know, Dream. We all do. And if we are going to get him back, we need A6D's help."

"I'm not convinced we can trust him," Sapnap states. "How do we know he's not leading us into a trap?"

"I guess that's a chance you'll have to take," A6D says.

———

Word Count: 2495

Um, guys! 2K reads?! SERIOUSLY?! Thank you all so much for the constant love and support you all show. I can't possibly put into words how thankful I am to have you guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Don't forget to join my discord server where you can talk to some pretty awesome people! I'm currently taking OC submissions, so if you would like your OC to be possibly featured in this story or in a future story, join the server! I will post the link below as well as in my comments!

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Published: August 3rd


	11. Stayin’ Frosty

"The portal is just up here," A6D says, pointing ahead of him. "It's the same one you guys took when you visited the Nether before." Dream was thankful that they had their horses. The desert village wasn't far from the portal, but on horseback, the trip went by much faster. Sapnap ended up riding with Skeppy because Bad partnered up with A6D. It was probably for the best anyway. Sapnap and Dream were both ready to snap at A6D at any moment.

As they rode, Lily sent her time shooting arrows at the things they passed. She'd ask Dream if he thought she could hit a certain tree branch or a chicken in the distance. Dream didn't even need to know what she was aiming at to know that she would hit her target. She always did. She was trained by the best after all.

"So, what exactly is our plan here?" Sapnap asks. "The way Vincent described this fortress made it seem like it'd be hard to get in undetected."

"We can figure it out when we get there," Dream responds. "All I know is one of us is going to have to stay in the overworld with Lily."

Lily lowers her bow upon hearing her name. "Wait, why? I want to go with you!"

"It's too dangerous," Dream replies. "You're just a kid."

"I'm going to the Nether, Dream," Lily says, pouting.

"How about we talk about it later?" Dream asks.

Lily sighs. "Fine. But I get to hug George first when we find him."

Dream leans into her ear and says, "I can't promise anything!" He then tickles her. Her giggle puts a smile on everyone's face, even Sapnap who was trying his best to look scary in front of A6D. But their smiles fall when they see the remains of the abandoned village in front of them. A6D looks down as if he was avoiding eye-contact with the village for some reason. They push on and decide to tie the horses up at the well in the middle of the village then begin heading in the direction of the portal.

Before making it to the portal, Dream stops to look out at the field where they fought the Wither. The land was still horribly misshapen, but grass had grown around the chunks of dirt that were exposed that day. Dream could still vividly remember that day. The way that Skeppy proved that he could carry his own in a fight. The way that Bad saved Dream's life at the last second. The way George and Sapnap learned how much they needed each other. It was ok that day the Dream knew he had found his forever family. Sure, they were dysfunctional and broken at the moment, but they were a family nonetheless.

Sapnap walks up beside Dream and looks out onto the field. "What a day that was, huh?" Dream nods. "You know, if I could go back and relive that day, I would. I felt so alive. So free. I was scared, but so excited because I knew that we'd make it out alive."

"What made you so sure?" Dream asks.

"Have you met our team?" Sapnap says, gesturing to Bad and Skeppy who were talking to Lily. "We're badasses! We are untouchable. Especially you, dude. I don't know how you've gone this long without dying."

Dream sadly laughs. "It's because George saved me every time."

Sapnap nods. "He saved us all in one way or another." He then grabs Dream's arm and drags him towards the Nether portal room. "Let's go return the favor."

The portal was just like they had left it, the only difference being a layer of dust on the journal as well as the chest and brewing stand along the wall. Dream walked over to the portal and closed his eyes, listening to the portal call for him. He could feel its purple particles dance on his bare neck. He reached out for it, but Bad pulled him away from it.

"So, how are we doing this?" Bad asks. "I don't think Lily should go in with us, but she could be very useful there."

Skeppy crosses his arms and shakes his head. "She's not going, Darryl. I'm putting my foot down on this one." His statement was met with Bad's giggles. "What?" Skeppy asks.

Bad collects himself. "You're not exactly the responsible type, so it's funny seeing you so passionate about something."

"Hey! I can be responsible AND I can have a lot of passion!" Skeppy says. "And, let's be honest here, Dream and Sapnap would both vote for her to stay anyway." Both Dream and Sapnap nod in agreement. "I think Bad should stay here and watch Lily while the rest of us go after George."

"I want to help George too!" Bad exclaims.

"You are better with Lily than any of us. She looks at you as a father-figure unlike the rest of us. That's why I think you should be the one to stay," Skeppy explains.

Bad shifts his weight on his feet as he thinks it over. "What if you get hurt? Or worse? Skeppy, I don't want you to go in there by yourself."

Skeppy kisses Bad's cheek, shocking him. Bad raises a hand up to his cheek, which was not turning bright red. "I'll be back before you know it!" Skeppy says with a smile. "Besides, I want to talk to you about something when I get back."

Bad becomes a flustered mess as soon as Skeppy finishes his sentence, only managing to say a quick, "Ok." Sapnap and A6D jump into the portal first, quickly being transported into the Nether. Dream laughs and grabs Skeppy by his hood, dragging him into the portal. Skeppy shyly waves at Bad, then vanishes into the purple portal.

Dream takes a deep breath as he feels the heat of the Nether settle on his skin. He looks around at the landscape and realizes that it looks much different than when he was in there last time. He noticed the colorful forests as well as the zombie piglins around him. He then turns his attention back to Skeppy. "So, you're finally trying to confess your unrequited love to Bad?"

Skeppy blushes. "Please don't make this a big deal."

"How long have you known you liked him?" Sapnap asks.

Skeppy shrugs. "I don't know for sure, but it's been since before the pillagers took me."

Dream's jaw drops. "So you're telling me that you've liked him for almost four years and you've never told him?!"

Skeppy pulls on his hoodie strings, closing his hood up. "Shut up."

"Guys! It's this way!" A6D yells, pointing at a path in the netherrack. "Everyone stay close and stay quiet. We don't want the piglings coming to get you." Everyone readies their weapons, preparing themselves to be attacked. Even A6D grabbed a potion from his backpack and held it in his hand tightly.

"Why does the Nether look so different now?" Dream asks.

A6D shrugs. "I don't know! Things just started growing. I guess you can say this place got an update. I like it much better than how this place used to look. The trees are a nice change of scene."

"I am so ready to kick Techno's ass!" Sapnap cheers. "No one messes with Georgie and gets away with it. Only I'm allowed to mess with him. It's my job."

As Sapnap and A6D walk ahead of them, Dream slows down when he notices Skeppy staring out into the Nether, frozen. "Hey, you ok?"

"I remember this place," Skeppy whispers.

"Well, of course, you do!" Dream exclaims. "We've been in here before."

Skeppy shakes his head. "No, I remember something else. I don't know when or why, but I think I was here before I met you. Back when the pillagers had me." He closes his eyes. "I know I told you I was there when the Wither was made, but I can't remember anything else about it." He opens his eyes. "I'm scared, Dream. What if I shut down while we are out there? Just thinking about seeing the pillagers again is making me spiral and I can't do it."

"Hey! Hey, it'll all be ok. I promise," Dream says reassuringly. "Besides, you need to make it back home to your Darryl."

Skeppy smiles and nods. "You're right! Let's go." Dream nods and begins walking, missing when Skeppy's smile drops. He looks back out across the landscape and whispers, "I'll be ok."

George was exhausted. He hadn't slept in days and he had used every ounce of energy he had to escape Techno and look for something to fix his wrists with. Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything in the immediate area that would help him. George would have to travel farther if he would be able to find anything. Thankfully, his wrists weren't bleeding anymore. The blood had finally clotted enough to stop the bleeding. He closed his eyes and he leaned against the netherack in his base in an attempt to catch a nap, but the sweet release of sleep never came. Of course, it didn't help that the monsters outside were being loud. The endermen were especially annoying. They kept up their awful hollering for what felt like hours but was probably a minute and a half. As George listened, he swore he could hear them saying actual words.

Finally fed up with being stuck inside of his cave, George decided to break down his wooden barrier and wander out. Straight ahead of him were the same piglins that Techno had command over, so he decided not to go that way. To his left was the rest of the blue forest, decorated with blue speckled mushrooms and some sort of twisting plant that grew up towards the ceiling of the Nether. To his right was the same Nether landscape that he knew, so he decided to head that way in search of something useful. George was regretting not collecting materials from his cell before Techno had everything taken out. He also wished he had taken the gauze that he was offered. It would've made his life a lot easier.

On his way out of the blue forest, George cuts down some pieces of wood and makes himself a crafting table and a wooden pick. He then walks to a piece of the netherrack that was glowing yellow. He mines a small piece of it and it drops small gold nuggets. Gold isn't the best material for making tools and armor, but George was quickly finding that he didn't have much of a choice. He mined as much of the gold he could find. After accumulating a sizable pile of nuggets, George then walks towards a large area that was covered in the same black stone that his cell had. It was just as cool to the touch as it was in his cell. He decided he could line his little cave with it to keep things cool, so he grabs a stack of it. Figuring that he had some good supplies to start with, he begins heading back to his little cave. As he walks, he squeezes in between two of the zombie piglins, expecting to just continue on his way as if he was never there. Instead, one of them grabs his arm and digs its claws into his skin. When George looks back at the pig, he panics. It definitely wasn't zombified.

He yanks his arm away, causing the piglin's claws to slice his skin open. He curses under his breath and begins running towards the cave, hoping he'd make it back in time to block the entrance off again. In front of his cave, he sees two more Piglins, one carrying a crossbow. It aims it's crossbow at him and prepares to fire, but George ducks just in time, allowing the arrow to fly into the Pigling chasing behind him. George then grabs the pig's gold sword. It was close to breaking, but it'd do for now. He held the sword up and charged at the pigs. He hits the one with the crossbow, striking him down where he stood. He swings at the other pigling, but it blocks his attack and scratches him in the face. A steady stream of blood falls down the side of George's face as he staggers back. He presses his hand against his cheek to try and stop the bleeding, but the pig came running at him, ready to fight. George takes his hand off of his face and wraps it around the hilt of his sword. He wasn't happy to have even stickier hands now, but he wasn't given much of a choice. He swings at the pig, but it swings at the same time, shattering George's sword and sending him falling onto his back. Seeing no possible way out of this, he holds his breath and prepares to feel a sword enter his chest or something. Instead, he hears the pig happily squealing.

He sits up and sees that when he fell, the gold fell out of his pockets. The piglin was too distracted picking up the gold pieces to continue its pursuit against George. He scrambles to his feet and jobs towards the cave. Before entering, he stops at the body of the dead piglin that had a crossbow. He picks up the crossbow and undoes the piglin's quiver that held 20 something arrows. Not being adept at using a sword, George felt a lot better with a ranged weapon. He slings the quiver over his shoulder and walks into his new home, blocking the entrance behind him. He sets down the crossbow and quiver and holds his hand against his bleeding cheek as he begins to figure out his next move.

———

Word Count: 2309  
  


Don't forget to join my discord server where you can talk to some pretty awesome people! I'm currently taking OC submissions, so if you would like your OC to be possibly featured in this story or in a future story, join the server!

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Published: August 6th


	12. A Terrible Fortress

A/N: Hey there! I've heavily edited a part that occurs later in this chapter which is why you are seeing this as a new chapter again. I really hope you guys don't mind and that you enjoy the new version of Techno's scene with the pillagers!

Bad pulls Lily into the wooden shack that was still standing from the last time he had been there. The whole thing was gutted, but the shelter itself was still strong and sturdy. He opens up his backpack and puts up the furnace and the crafting table he was carrying with him. Bad then has Lily help him set up some beds but frowns when he realizes that he is one bed short. When they come back, A6D won't have his own bed to stay in.

"Want to go sheer some sheep?" Bad asks Lily.

"No," Lily responds. "I want to go help find George."

Bad sighs. "I do too, kiddo. But it's too dangerous for you there." Bad opens the door and motions for Lily to walk out. She frowns and grabs Dream's mask, sliding it over her face. "So, how does your neck feel?" Bad asks.

"It still hurts, but not bad," Lily responds. "My hand hurts more."

"Really?" Darryl asks.

Lily nods and shows Bad her palm. "Every time I use the bow, it hurts."

"Well, maybe you should stop using the bow?" Darryl suggests.

Lily smirks. "Never!"

The two laugh together, but Bad goes quiet when he hears wheels turning somewhere around him. He grabs Lily and pulls her against one of the buildings, covering her mouth tightly with his hand. They both watch as a group of pillagers passes by, dragging some sort of cart behind them. In the cart was a young man, possibly 16, who was frozen with fear. His big blue eyes were puffy and red from crying. Had it not been for the pillagers around him, Bad would've tried to save him. But Bad knew that there was no helping him. Those pillagers were just too intimidating.

The pillager in the front looked intimidating enough to ward off any attackers on her own. She carried a crossbow in her right hand and an iron sword in her left. She even had an iron ax hanging from her belt. Her faded lavender hair fell down her black shirt and her expression on her face was cold and hard. What made Bad the most afraid of her was how she wasn't wearing any armor. It was as if she was daring people to fight her. She barked orders at the others, demanding that they lower the teenager into the hole to the portal room. Once the cage and the pillagers were out of sight, Bad pulled Lily behind him towards the forest, ready to build a new shack away from the danger.

The whole way to the fortress that A6D was leading them to, Dream noticed that Skeppy was sweating. And he was sure it wasn't from the heat. Skeppy was clutching his trident for dear life, pointing it at every little thing that made him jump. Dream was struggling to comprehend how scared Skeppy was. He was the one that had no fears. He was the risky one that would act now and think later. But he was so scared at this moment that he couldn't even pretend to be ok.

"I don't think I can do this," Skeppy says quietly, almost like he was talking to himself.

Dream stops walking. "Why not?"

"What if I see the pillagers again?" Skeppy asks. "I'll just shut down. I'll be more of a burden than anything."

"If you shut down, we will help you," Sapnap reassures him. "I'll carry your ass out of here myself if I have to."

Dream laughs, but Skeppy's scared expression doesn't budge. "I'm serious, guys! I can't face them or their leader. Not again."

"Their leader?" Dream asks.

Skeppy nods. "The closer we get, the more I start to remember. And I remember this man with pink hair being the scariest person I'd ever seen. And he had someone else with him, but I don't remember them as well."

A6D cringes. "That would be me. I was that friend."

Skeppy glares at him. "You know, I have a feeling we are walking into a trap."

"Skeppy, everything will be ok," Dream says. "He's not going to betray us. Why else would he risk his own safety to find us?"

Skeppy takes a breath. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just paranoid." He kicks a small red rock and watches as it falls off of the path and into the lava below.

A6D reaches into his bag and hands everyone a potion of fire resistance. "I know it's not much, but I hope it at least makes you feel better knowing that we don't have to worry about fire." He winks at Skeppy.

Skeppy whispers, "Thanks." He sighs. "I wish Darryl was here. He always knew what to say."

"You'll see him soon," Dream says. "Now let's keep moving, ok?" Skeppy nods and continues to follow them down the path.

As they get close enough to see the fortress, Dream begins to feel excitement bubble up in him. He was finally going to see George again. There was so much he wanted to tell him that he had spent the last few nights only thinking about how he would formulate his sentences. He wanted to tell George how special he was and how important he was to him. He couldn't wait to hold George in his arms again and to hear his laugh and to see his smile. That same smile that he had fallen in love with three years ago.

"Ok, here's my idea," A6D starts. "We can't get in through the front door for obvious reasons. I say we build a bridge across from the side that George's cell is closest to. That way, we can sneak in, break him out, then leave!"

"I think that's our best option," Sapnap says. "It'll help us avoid all of the pigs."

A6D nods and motions for everyone to follow him. He leads them away from the path and pulls a large stack of netherrack out of his backpack. He tosses half of it to Dream as they build a crude bridge across the lava pool to the fortress. Dream did his best not to look down. Not only did he have a problem with heights but, if he fell, he'd burn to death if he couldn't break the potion in time. Instead of focusing on death, he kept himself thinking about George and how he had to get to him as fast as possible. As they built across, Sapnap and Skeppy both kept watch, making sure nothing was going to attack them. They didn't realize before coming into the nether that no one had a ranged weapon. Skeppy could throw his trident, but depending on where he threw it, he may never get it back again. Thankfully, besides the stray magma cube, they didn't have to worry about any monsters coming to get them. After some time, the bridge was finally done. Sapnap and Skeppy meet Dream and A6D on the other side and they all walk into the fortress.

"George's cell is just down here! If we are quick, we can all escape without being spotted!" A6D practically runs down the corridor, taking a right. They carefully squeeze past a blaze, deciding that fighting it would only draw attention to them. "His cell is right-" A6D stops before he can finish his sentence. The cell that George was in was empty and had a huge hole in the corner of it. There was a substantial amount of blood on the chains as well as around the ground. A6D shakes his head. "He was here! I swear he was here!" Before anyone had the chance to say anything, they heard Techno's voice from down the hall. Skeppy tenses up. Sapnap notices this and wraps an arm around him as they sneak their way over to where they heard his voice from. A6D points to a ladder and motions for them to go up. One by one, they go up, staying as silent as possible. From the top, they had a view of Techno's throne room. In the throne room, a pillager woman with lavender hair was pouring brown sand onto the ground while chatting with Techno.

"Technoblade, we've found a replacement for your missing prisoner!" The pillager with lavender hair cheers. "We found him alone in the woods. With his soul, we will be one step closer to creating an even stronger Wither!"

Techno grins and nods. "Thank you, Sam. Bring him in here and prepare the sand to absorb his soul."

Sam nods her head at the other pillagers who enter the room with the large cage that held the teenager. He curled her legs up against his chest and buried his face into his knees. "My lord, may I present to you, your latest soul!"

Techno walks towards the cage and laughs. "Don't be shy, kid. What's your name?" The teenager looks up and they both stare at each other for a long moment. "Tommy?"

"Dave," Tommy whispers. "You're alive."

Techno lets out a light chuckle. "And so are you! I-I thought you were dead!" He reached his hands between the bars and ruffled Tommy's hair. "You're going to be ok. Let's get you out of here." He looks at Sam. "Open the cage and let him go."

"No," Sam states coldly.

"I said, open the cage and let him go!" Techno shouts.

"Dream and his friends are already on their way! Do you know how hard it is to find people and bring them back here?!" Sam slams her fist against the cage. "You lost your first soul by leaving a fucking bed in the cell! Who does that?!"

"That means he could still be alive!" Sapnap whispers. "He escaped!"

Dream shushed Sapnap, but he too felt excited. It was the glimmer of hope they were waiting for.

Sam takes a deep breath. "We don't have time to lose another soul. We are doing this, with or without your blessing." She looks at her men. "If he tries to stop me, hold him back." The men nod and all take positions near Techno, just in case he tried anything.

Sam pulls a lever down, opening the cage up. She grabs Tommy's arm and throws him onto a patch of brown sand. Tommy looks at Techno with fear in his eyes. "Please, Dave. Don't let them do this!"

"Please, let him go!" Techno pleads. "He's my brother. I need him to be ok!"

Tommy starts to stand, but Sam hits the back of his head with the hilt of her sword. He falls back to his knees, groaning in pain. Techno steps forward, but two of the pillagers pull him back.

Tommy turns to Sam and mumbles, "Fuck you," under his breath. Before he could say anything else, Sam's boot collided with Tommy's face.

"ENOUGH!" Techno yells. "I don't want this!"

"You want power, don't you?!" Sam asks, kneeling down beside Tommy. She pulls an iron dagger out of the side of her pants and runs the blade along Tommy's chin just lightly enough to not pierce through his skin. He whimpers as he looks back at Techno, desperation coming out of his blue eyes. He didn't dare move his mouth to speak out of fear of being cut open by the woman by him.

"Power isn't worth this!" Techno claims. "You can't take his life!"

Sam grabs a handful of Tommy's hair and yanks his head back, pushing her blade even more into his skin. "You were willing to take the lives of so many people. Why is he so special?"

Techno tries to throw himself forward, but feels an arrow dig into his spine as one of the pillagers presses into him. "Because he's my brother!"

Sam smiles as she pulls the blade across Tommy's neck, just deep enough to make him bleed, but not enough to seriously hurt him. He bites his bottom lip to avoid letting out a scream, but it wasn't enough to muffle his cries of pain. Tommy closes his eyes as tears begin streaming down his face. "Please, Dave. Please stop her."

Techno glances down and notices that the pillagers were just barely holding his arms away from his sword. If he moved quick enough, he could easily unsheath his weapon and attack. He pulls his arm away from the pillager and grabs his sword, just in time to deflect an arrow that came flying at him. Techno swings again, but falls to the ground in sudden pain as his body becomes wrapped up in dark crimson particles. The instant damage potion was one he had yet to use much, but after having it used on himself, he was starting to regret not using it before. The pillagers grab the sword off of the ground and restrain Techno with some rope that Sam had tossed them. Now, all tied up, he was unable to help Tommy.

Tommy's breathing became quick and panicked as Sam left him, only to return with a potion bottle filled with dark liquid. Upon seeing the potion, Techno became hysterical. "NO! PLEASE!!! YOU CAN'T KILL HIM! DON'T WITHER HIM! PLEASE!"

"I don't want to die!" Tommy sobs, finally losing his shit. "I'll do anything! Please!"

Sam turns around and stabs Tommy in the neck with her dagger, making his eyes go wide with shock and pain. She slowly drags the dagger out, watching as his blood dripped onto the brown sand below. Tommy made an awful gurgling noise as he tried to breath, but eventually began choking on his own blood. Techno watched as his blood dripped out of his mouth and down the front of his shirt, unable to believe his eyes. Techno thrashed against the rope and pillagers, calling Tommy's name, begging Sam to stop. But she didn't listen.

Sam looked at Techno and smiled. "Blood for the blood god, right?" She then giggles as she slams the potion down, watching as the boy becomes withered. It was then that Tommy stopped trying to breathe. His body became encased with the strongest withering potion that Techno had ever seen. It acted much faster than any potion he had seen before. He screamed for Tommy, telling him that he'd be ok and that he'd save him. But there was no saving Tommy. Not this time. His body falls forward, face down into the brown sand as blood pools around his face and his neck. Eventually, Techno stops fighting against the pillagers, unable to move. All he could do was stare as the color drained from Tommy's body.

After making sure he was dead, Sam nodded and allowed the pillagers to release Techno from the rope tied around him. They prepared themselves for Techno to attack them, but he didn't. He fell to his knees and crawled to Tommy. He turns his body over and looks at his face in horror. His face wasn't the usual grey that appeared when someone was withered. He was just really pale. His baby blue eyes were now a muted grey. The only color on his face was the bright red blood that was still dripping from his mouth and neck. Techno pulled his head into his lap and brushed the boy's light hair out of his face. He had thought Tommy was dead already and he got through it. But actually watching Tommy die killed Techno. A teardrop fell from Techno's eye and onto Tommy's cheek as he felt his last string of sanity break inside of him.

Techno then watches as the brown sand beneath him begins to absorb some sort of energy out of Tommy. The area around them turns blue as Techno sees the brown sand begin to glow. The blue light fades as a face begins to appear on the sand. Techno wouldn't have been able to tell it was Tommy had it not been for just watching him die. The pillagers had successfully taken his soul and transformed the brown sand into soul sand.

"I'm sorry, Tommy," Techno quietly whispers as he holds him tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

Sam scoffs. "Men, dispose of the body." They pull Techno off of his brother and pick the boy up. They then walk his body to the balcony and toss his body into the lava pool below. Techno silently watches as his brother's body burns to a crisp before disappearing forever.

As they watch, A6D tries to lean in to get a closer look at the soul sand, but slips and nearly falls, catching Sam and Techno's attention. Skeppy and Dream pull him back up as Techno yells, "Dream is here! AFTER THEM!" The group stands up and takes off down the hallway, all pulling each other along. They skid to a stop as they hear the piglins coming down one end of the hallway. They turn around but hear pigs coming from another direction. The only way they had left to go was to the left, where they could hear a blaze hissing. Deciding that it was their best move, they ready their weapons and head towards the blaze. To their surprise, the blaze didn't put up much of a fight. It stayed relatively still as Sapnap killed it in two swings. A6D grabs the blaze rod as they continue running back towards the path they had made to get into the fortress.

A6D grabs Skeppy and drags him across their thin bridge, but he yells, "STOP!" when he sees a Ghast shoot a large fire charge towards the bridge. It blows up the middle of it, making the rest of it crumble into the lava below.

Sapnap looks at the gap between them and the other side, then shakes his head. "We can't make that jump, Dream."

Dream looks behind them, seeing a large hoard of piglins running at them. There were too many to fight and the gap was too big. They only had one way out of this. He pulls out his fire resistance potion A6D gave him and throws it on the ground, encasing both him and Sapnap in orange particles. He then looks at Skeppy. "We're going to find George! You guys make sure Bad and Lily stay safe. Wait for us on the outside!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Sapnap screams. Dream doesn't answer him. He just grabs Sapnap's scarred arm and pulls him off of the fortress with him, ready to make contact with the lava.

———

Word Count: 3081

Don't forget to join my discord server where you can talk to some pretty awesome people! I'm currently taking OC submissions, so if you would like your OC to be possibly featured in this story or in a future story, join the server! I will post the link below as well as in my comments!

https://discord.gg/jkPgTk4

Published: August 8th


	13. A/N: BETA READERS/EDITORS WANTED!

Hey everyone!!! I'm looking to put together a team of people to beta read/edit my story! You must have a discord account to apply. I do all of the editing currently, but my stories aren't as polished as I'd like them to be. As a beta reader/editor, you will learn the whole story of whatever story you read and edit for so that I can ask for help with organizing ideas, so keep that in mind when you apply. Also, if you are chosen, you are not allowed to give any spoilers to anyone! With that being said, if you want to apply, please fill out the survey below!!! Thanks everybody!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1F_x_U8LChe8Ka1tRiM8riz7ns0M8BaBm0dhOlJlQ_xQ/edit


	14. Chapter 12: Return to Sender

Dream swims to the surface of the lava, gasping for air as he looks for Sapnap. Just out of arm's reach, Sapnap surfaces, looking pissed. "WHAT THE FUCK, DREAM?!" He screams. "WE COULD'VE DIED!"

"But we didn't!" Dream points out. Swimming in the lava was a weird sensation that he had long forgotten. It felt like swimming through warm water, except much thicker. It took more out of him to keep his head above the lava's surface. Above him, he could see the piglins gathered around the edge of the fortress that Dream had thrown himself and Sapnap from. None of them looked like they were going to go for a swim with them. Among the pigs, Dream also saw Technoblade. The lava reflected light off of the jewels in his crown, making it shine with small blue and green rays.

"How long does the potion last for?" Sapnap asks, stealing Dream's attention away from Techno.

"I have no idea," Dream admits.

Sapnap looks around, hoping that there was somewhere that they could pull themselves out of the lava from. The closest ledge he could find was at the base of a large blue forest. "If we swim over there fast enough, we may be able to make it."

Dream follows Sapnap's gaze and sees the forest. It was still a good way away from where they were, but if they were fast, they may be able to make it. Dream nods at Sapnap and they both begin swimming through the lava to their salvation.

Dream didn't think to account for the thickness of the lava when he began swimming. He kept at Sapnap's pace but quickly began to tire out. Sapnap was always a stronger swimmer than he was, so he was disappointed with himself for thinking it'd be a good idea to push himself so much. He let himself fall back slightly as he caught his breath, then continued swimming after Sapnap. Dream could feel his arms begin to ache, but he couldn't let himself think about it. Swim now, ache later.

In front of him, Sapnap begins to slow down so that he could ask, "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Dream stops for a second. At first, all he could feel were his arms in pain. But then he started to feel something else. A burning sensation. It tickled more than it hurt, but they both felt it.

Sapnap was the first to realize what the odd sensation was. His eyes drifted to Dream while he did his best to stay calm. "Dream, the potion. It's wearing off."

"We need to GO!" Dream yells. He dives into the lava and swims forward as fast as he could. As every second passed, he felt his body getting hotter. He could feel everything being to burn, which made him panic more. He pops his head above the lava to take a breath, spotting Sapnap not too far ahead of him crawling out of the lava and onto some sort of blue fungi growing out of the ground. Dream ducks back under the lava and continues swimming, pulling himself out of the lava just as the potion wore off.

He lays on the ground, gasping for air, as Sapnap scoffs, "If I didn't need you right now, I'd kill you." He surveys the area, noticing the crowds of endermen lurking around the blue trees. "We need to keep moving."

"I just need a minute.....or five," Dream murmurs, taking a quick glance up at the endermen. "Everything hurts."

Sapnap pulls Dream up to his feet. "Get over it, princess. We need to find a way back to the portal." He looked out across the lava pool that they swam in and noticed that there was no easy way to go back the way they came. The portal was tucked away on a ledge somewhere. The fastest way to get there would be to climb up the side of the fortress and make their way back to the spot that the bridge was built. But they only had one lava resistance potion and their swords. There was no way they'd be able to climb up the side of the fortress without being killed.

"Where do you think George is?" Dream asks.

Sapnap bites his bottom lip, not wanting to admit to Dream what he really thought. He was almost sure that George was dead. If he blew up his cell, he would've fallen right into the lava and burnt up right then and there. But he didn't have the heart to tell Dream that. He was barely keeping himself together as it was. Having to be the one to point this out to Dream would kill him. "I don't know," Sapnap finally decides to reply. "Maybe he ran off into the forest or something?" Dream nods and begins walking into the forest. "Dude! Where are you going? The portal is that way!" he shouts, pointing back towards the lava pool.

"I'm not leaving without George!" Dream yells over his shoulder.

Sapnap groans and follows after him. "Do you think Skeppy and Frenchie made it out okay?"

"I hope so," Dream whispers. "I'm not ready to lose anyone else right now."

A6D's leather boots pounded on the netherrack as he dragged Skeppy along behind him. He had no idea if they were being followed and he didn't dare to turn around and check. As he ran, he slowly breathed in through his nose and out of his mouth to not lose his breath. Skeppy, on the other hand, was struggling with all of this running.

Skeppy was gasping for air behind him, doing his best to keep up with A6D's pace. He had considered himself to be quite fit, but after not having to do anything so physical for multiple years, he was proving himself wrong. Had it not been for A6D pulling him, he probably would've collapsed a long time ago. After another mile's worth of running as well as nearly tripping on every other rock in his path, he finally saw the portal not too far ahead of him. The excitement he felt when he saw it was enough encouragement to propel himself forward, matching A6D's speed. They both step into the portal and watch as everything turns purple just as some piglins come running around the corner. Within an instant, they are teleported back to the overworld.

A6D let's go if Skeppy's arm as he takes off towards their original wooden shack, assuming that Bad and Lily would be tucked inside. He bursts through the door, yelling, "BAD! WE COULDN'T FIND GEORGE AND DREAM AND SAPNAP FELL INTO LAVA AND-" He stops when he realizes that the shack was empty. "No no no no no no," he whispers to himself as he steps outside. He started to bubble up with even more panic than before. He calls their names as he wanders hopelessly around the empty village, A6D following close behind him. Just as he was about to give up, he hears a loud whistle coming from outside of the village. They both look up towards the forest not far away and see Bad waving his arms in the arm.

"Hey, do you have any water?" Skeppy asks A6D. A6D pulls out a water bottle feeling terribly confused. Skeppy pops the lid off and dumps the water over his head. He then grips his trident with both hands and takes off running across the field towards Bad. About halfway there, he pulls his trident back, then throws it, launching himself into the air. He cheers as he flies through the air, then lands gracefully right in front of Bad.

"WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY?!" A6D yells from across the field. Skeppy only laughs in response.

Bad raises one eyebrow, looking at Skeppy with a mischievous smile. "Was that supposed to impress me?"

Skeppy smiles as he breathes heavily from his flight. "I don't know....did it impress you?"

Bad shrugs. "Maybe a little bit." Both of their happy expressions fall when they remember that they aren't in the most ideal situation. "Where's everyone else?"

"George had escaped from Techno," Skeppy explains. "He was gone by the time we got there. We ended up finding Techno and these pillagers and the pillagers killed Techno's little brother. And then, he saw us, so we ran. A6D and I were able to get away, but Dream and Sapnap had to jump into the lava in order to escape the pig guys coming after us."

"THEY JUMPED INTO LAVA?!" Bad screams.

"Bad! It's ok! They're ok! They had a fire resistance potion. They're alive. I promise." Bad nods and allows his tensed shoulders to relax.

"And how are you feeling?" Bad asks.

"I'm alright, I guess," Skeppy responds. "I mean, three of my friends are still in the nether, but other than that, I'm alright."

"No, I mean about seeing the pillagers again," Bad corrects.

Skeppy hesitates, not quite knowing what to say. He had no idea how he felt. Ever since he was saved, he did everything he could to repress the memories that he had from being killed so many times. "Numb, I think," Skeppy answers. "I feel numb. Like, I'm not scared or sad or angry or anything. Just numb."

Bad wraps an arm around Skeppy's shoulders just as A6D finally catches up to them. "I think I've got something that will make you feel better." The three walk into the trees, eventually coming upon a beautiful wooden home, complete with a path of flowers leading up to the front door. It was made from oak wood and looked very similar to the one that George had built. Lily was rolling around in the front yard, playing with a small white dog. Despite the somber mood everyone was in, her laughs made them all smile.

"So, you guys got a dog?" Skeppy asks.

"Yep," Bad replies. "He's an energetic little thing and he's a great distraction for Lily."

Skeppy walks over to Lily, catching her attention. She smiles and throws herself into his arms. "SKEPPY! I missed you!" She then looks over his shoulder. "Where's everyone else?"

"They'll be back soon," Skeppy explains. "They just needed to do some stuff first." He gets on his knees and pets the small dog. It was much smaller than his dog Rocco. "What's its name?"

"I want you to name him," Lily says. "I like the names that you come up with."

"How about fluffy?" Skeppy asks. "He is a really fluffy guy!"

Lily scoops the dog up in her arms. "I love you, Fluffy!" She smiles at Skeppy, then walks inside.

"She wouldn't stop talking about you, you know?" Bad asks. "She went on and on about how much she missed you."

"Really?" Skeppy asks.

Bad nods. "Yeah. Lily is obsessed with you. She reminds me a lot of you. She is such a goofball, but she's brave and serious when it counts."

"She gets it from you," Skeppy says. "I am not brave. My mind just takes a minute to catch up with the rest of me when I do something stupid. And I'm not serious. Like, at all."

Bad wraps his hand in Skeppy's. "Well, I think you're brave."

Skeppy smiles and looks away. "I'm not. Especially around you."

"Why's that?" Bad asks.

Still looking away, Skeppy lifts their locked hands. "You do this crap and it's like I can't function properly anymore."

Bad sheepishly lets go of Skeppy's hand. "I-I'm sorry," he stutters. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Hey," Skeppy says, looking back up at Bad with his cheeks dusted pink. "I never said I didn't like it."

"You two are so cute it's disgusting," A6D teases. "I'm going inside."

"Us too," Skeppy decides. "We still don't know you. You don't get to be around Lily alone yet."

"See?! You can be serious!" Bad points out. Skeppy quietly giggles as the two walk inside of the house, happy to be once again reunited.

———

Word Count: 2007

Don't forget to join my discord server where you can talk to some pretty awesome people! I'm currently taking OC submissions, so if you would like your OC to be possibly featured in this story or in a future story, join the server!

https://discord.gg/jkPgTk4

Published: August 12th


	15. A/N- Taking a Short Break

Hello there, my dear reader,

I’m going to be taking a short break to work on my mental health. I just need some time to work things out for myself. Don’t worry, I am 100% ok, I just need time. I hope you all understand that and can be patient with me for now. If you are ever feeling like you are alone or in need of help, don’t be afraid to reach out to people to get that help. Always remember that you are loved. I’ll be back in 2-3 days. I promise.

<3 App1es


	16. Hidden in the Depths

I'm baaaaaaack!

Hello everyone! I've missed you all! I hope everyone is doing well. I'm so happy to get back to sharing my story with you, but before we get into that, I wanted to thank you all for all of the lovely comments that you left. All of the love and support brought me to tears! I didn't respond to them, but I promise you, I read and appreciated every single one. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful fan base and I don't know what I'd do without you all. With that being said, onto the story!!!

———

George's cheek finally stopped bleeding after a few minutes of pressing Dream's hoodie against it. The sleeve was now the same shade of dark red that was found on the netherrack surrounding him. That poor hoodie would never look the same again now that it was covered in stains. George also began to notice that it no longer smelt like Dream. It now smelt like something had crawled on it and died. But George didn't want to take it off. It was the only thing he had left that connected him to his old life. The life he may never get back. For days, George had been ignoring his feelings because he knew if he slipped, he wouldn't be able to come back. He was losing his mind. After some deliberation, George decided to carve his little cave into something that more resembled a home. He wasn't leaving anytime soon.

He started with the main room by the doorway, cutting off parts of the wall with a pickaxe he made from the blue wood to even the place out. The rocks in the wall tumbled down into neat piles as he went, leaving George with an odd satisfied feeling. Then he began carving out a small hallway that would lead to his new bedroom. For a cave home, it wasn't looking half bad. It was nothing compared to the beautiful wooden home he had built before, but it was still cute. He even managed to mine enough gold to make himself a helmet, which made him happy. It was nice and shiny and perfect. George was starting to find that the little things were helping him through this. He'd be alright.

At least, he hoped so.

George mined out the floor and used the last of both the red and blue wood he had to make a checkerboard pattern on the ground. It wasn't the best use of his wood, but it made him happy. That was something Bad had taught him. In situations like these, you have to do whatever it takes to keep yourself stable. Unfortunately, in his attempt to keep himself content, he had used up all of his wood. He grabbed the crossbow and quiver and decided to walk outside, hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with any monsters. A hoard of endermen were all gathered around the blue trees nearest to him, so he decided to walk into the crimson forest instead. While he would have to deal with Piglins, he at least knew to use gold to get rid of them. If he ran into them, he could just throw his helmet and run.

After cutting down a few pieces of wood with his pickaxe, he had enough materials to make a door as well as an axe to allow him to cut the trees down faster. He even stopped to collect a few of the glowing shroom lights tucked away in the corners of the trees. They'd look great in his home. Once his arms were full with his gathered materials, he started to head back. But a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.

"He's gotta be around here, Sapnap! There's a few broken trees in the area. There's no way that wasn't him!"

"While I do think that he chopped the trees down, I'm not convinced he stuck around this place."

The voices were so quiet that George's breath nearly drowned them out. He shook it off as a hallucination and turned to walk in the opposite direction. But despite believing that it was all in his head, his curiosity was getting the best of him. He turned right back around and started following the voices.

"Dream! Slow down!"

"Keep up, man! I know he's here. I can feel it!"

"You don't have to practically run, though! I'm starving and have literally no energy."

George's legs grew heavy as it became harder for him to breathe. He had been waiting for the moment to see his friends again, but now that it was happening, he felt nervous. He had no idea what he was going to say to Dream once he saw him. There was so much that the two had left unsaid that he didn't know where to start.

"Dream, I can't keep moving so fast. I'm cramping up."

"Fine. Let's find some food and we can find a place to chill."

"WHAT FOOD DO YOU EXPECT US TO FIND?!"

Hearing them talking about eating reminded George of his own stomach pains. He hadn't eaten since he was locked away, but even then, it was barely enough to survive off of. He followed the voices, coming to the edge of a cliff at the end of the crimson forest. Below him, he could see Dream and Sapnap walking together through a warped forest. They both looked messier than normal, especially Dream, who looked like he hadn't slept in days. Sapnap's white bandana was dirty and was the only thing keeping his wavy dark hair from falling all over his face. George opened his mouth to call out to them, but no noise came out. His throat was killing him and the knot in his chest didn't help. He just couldn't form any words.

Sapnap stopped walking and leaned on one of the blue trees as he clutched his stomach. "Dream, please. We need to stop." Dream ignored him and continued walking, looking all around him for any sign of life. "DREAM!" Sapnap yelled out, finally getting him to stop.

"What, Sapnap? Does your tummy hurt? Get over it."

"Dream, please. I'm starting to feel sick."

"You're being dramatic."

Sapnap's jaw drops. "Am not! Seriously? Dude, I haven't eaten in hours and all of this swimming and walking and running and everything isn't making me feel any better. On top of that, we don't even know if George is alive and that's making me feel all sorts of things."

"George is just fine," Dream states. "He is perfectly safe."

"We don't know that, Dream. I'd rather go into this prepared for the worst than expecting the best."

"HE'S FINE, SAPNAP!" Both of them seemed equally scared at Dream's yell. They weren't concerned about the fact that they were fighting. That was normal for them. What did worry them, however, was the possibility of a hostile created hearing them. George was also concerned for their safety, tightly holding the crossbow against his chest as he looked around their area. They all three decided that the coast was clear at the same time, allowing them all to relax a little bit.

"I'm sorry, Sapnap. I just can't consider the possibility of him not being okay. He has to be okay. He just had to." Dream sits on the ground and leans up against the same tree that Sapnap settled on. "If he isn't okay, I don't know what I'd do with myself."

Sapnap slid down the tree, allowing himself to sit next to Dream. "No matter what happens, I'm here for you, bud. We will get through it together. I promise."

Dream let himself fall to the side, his head landing on Sapnap's shoulder. "Thank you."

George desperately wanted to say something, but he still couldn't. He had gone temporarily mute and it was killing him. All he could do was sit there and watch the two sit against the tree, looking terribly exhausted. George looked off to the side of the cliff and found that not too far away was a safe way down. Anxious to show himself to them, he left his spot and took off towards his way down.

As he joged over, he began to hear a second set of footsteps behind him. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see a giant hog charging at him before he got flung into the air, dropping the crossbow in the process. His body slammed into a wall of netherrack, knocking the wind out of him. He fell to the ground and coughed, desperately attempting to catch his breath. He looked around for the crossbow, finding that it was quite a ways away from him, the hog standing in between him and it. He quickly considered his options, deciding that he would make it down to Dream and Sapnap. They both had swords, so they'd be able to help. He booked it towards the path down but was stopped by another hog thing in his path. If he was fast enough, he may be able to make it back to his home in time to escape, but he'd risk losing Dream and Sapnap. As much as he didn't want to, he knew he had to flee the area.

George sprinted back to the warped forest he called home, pushing through all of the aches in his body. He was quickly losing energy, but he didn't focus on that. He just wanted to make it home. Behind him, he could hear the hogs. Not only were they keeping up, they got closer to him with every step they took. The monsters were gaining on him, which only made him more scared. As soon as the hogs got close enough, one of them hit George, launching him back into the air and straight into a twisted vine growing from the ground. The impact into the vine was enough to knock his helmet off of his head and onto the ground. George started to fall, but Dream's hoodie got snagged on some of the thorns, holding George just above the ground by his neck.

George clawed at his neck, desperate for air. He eventually wiggled his fingers between his neck and the hoodie as one of his feet finds a vine to just barely stand on. While it wasn't a lot, it allowed George to breathe, which was good enough for him. Below him, he watched as the Hoglins began to close in on the vine. But once they got close to one of the small blue mushrooms beside the vine, the two hogs took off running as if they were being attacked. George leaned his head back as he tried to catch his breath, his legs on fire from running so hard. He also felt the left side of his abdomen begin to cramp up. Deep breaths became hard to take. George tried to detach the hoodie from the vines behind him, but in the position he was in, it was no use. He couldn't get down no matter how hard he tried.

George felt a wave of relief when he heard two pairs of footsteps behind him. "Dream? Is that you?!" He looked over his shoulder, his hopes all shattering at once. On the ground were two Piglins. One was examining the golden helmet George had made while the other loaded its crossbow, staring at George. George begins thrashing against the vine, desperate to get free. Nothing was working. The Piglin that held his helmet put it on himself and followed the other Piglin's lead, putting an arrow into his crossbow as well. They both wander around the vine to face George's front side. They exchanged a few oinks and snorts, then both aimed their crossbows at him.

George closed his eyes and braced himself, hoping that Dream or Sapnap or anyone would come to his rescue. But no one came. Not this time. He took his last final breaths, spending his time wondering about what could've been. If only he had called out to them earlier. If only he had let Sapnap walk him home the night he was taken. If only he had told Dream the truth about becoming a father. If only.

Despite keeping his eyes closed, he felt a tear fall down his face. He was finally giving in to the darkness looming over him this whole time. He let himself feel the sadness that had been trying to take over him for days. This was his end.

He opened his eyes, deciding he'd save Dream and Sapnap one last time. He couldn't let them die to these same monsters. As the Piglins let their arrows fly, George yelled out, "DREEEEAAAAAM!" hoping that it'd give them the warning they needed to escape before the Piglins found them too.

———

Word Count: 2043

Please don't hate me! 🙈

Once again, thank you all for everything! As you know by now, I do have a discord and the link is below. If you would like to join a community of other readers, please hop on by! We’d love to have you!!!

https://discord.gg/GgFuvBV

I also have a Twitter now! You can follow me for story updates as well as to send/see any fanart I receive. I love talking to you guys, so drop a follow and let me know you're a reader and I'll follow you back! You can find me at:

@App13_Juice

Published: August 20th


	17. War Pigs

Dream was running, dragging Sapnap behind him. He didn't even hesitate after he heard George scream. He was in trouble and a lot of pain. Sapnap had his sword at the ready. Neither of them were about to give up on George. Ahead of them, Dream spotted a path that led to the top of the cliff that they heard the scream from. He led the way, climbing up the steep path as fast as he could.

By the time he made it to the top, he was out of breath. He stayed on his hands and knees as he waited for Sapnap to catch up. When Sapnap made it, he wasn't given the pleasure of catching his breath like Dream was. Instead, Dream yanked him up, and the two began running in the direction they heard the scream from. As they ran, they passed by large hogs that seemed to be preoccupied fighting Piglins. Dream was thankful that they were all busy, he lacked any sort of energy.

Sapnap started to fall further and further behind Dream until eventually stopping to catch his breath. "DREAM! I can't keep going!" He held his stomach and leaned up against a tree as Dream turned around to come back to him. "Something is wrong. I feel sick."

"We have to go get George," Dream said, diverting his attention from Sapnap to the direction he was running.

"Then go!" Sapnap nodded towards the direction that Dream was focused on. "Go get him! I'll catch up." Dream hesitated for a minute but ultimately decided to continue. Sapnap could handle himself just fine, unlike George, who sounded like he was about to die.

The closer he got to the source of the scream, the more Dream realized that the Piglins were also making their way towards the voice, hoglins attacking them as they went. Dream kept his head down in an attempt to go unnoticed, which (to his surprise) worked. He continued until he got to an open area with a tall twisted vine in the middle of it. Dream looked around, hoping that he'd find George. He found him, but not in the way he wanted.

Two Hoglins were pulling apart a corpse that was laying next to his blood-covered hoodie. The corpse had been shredded beyond anything recognizable, but Dream didn't need to see George's face to know it was him. The area around him started spinning as he felt the urge to vomit. He closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened them, George would be alright. But it didn't work. Dream's eyes began to fill with tears as he did everything he could to keep himself from going crazy. Behind him, he heard the snorts of the Piglins. He drew his sword and turned around, not expecting to be met with a large group of seven to eight Piglins, ready to kill him. With barely a second to spare, Dream dove to the ground to grab his hoodie, then pushed himself to continue running, tying the hoodie around his waist as he went. He wasn't prepared to take on so many Piglins at once.

Now in a blue forest, Dream found that the Piglins were not only chasing him, but he now had to deal with Endermen. He tried to keep his eyes on the ground but found that it was incredibly difficult to run without looking at his surroundings. He also had to make sure he didn't stray too far away from Sapnap, afraid that he'd get lost on his own. Not only was he struggling to breathe now that George was gone, but he had been running for his life ever since he jumped off of the fortress. He wanted a second to breathe, but couldn't shake off the Piglins. Dream kept running and found himself trapped between the pigs and a large cliff that was too steep to try to climb up. He turned to face the pigs, noticing that there would be no way around them. He backed up right against the wall, feeling the netherrack against the palms of his hands. Dream then readied his sword, deciding he wouldn't go down without a fight. He'd at least kill one of two of them before his death.

He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing as much as he possibly could, prepared to reunite with George soon. As he opened them, he saw a Piglin charge at him. But before he could react, he heard what he could only describe as a warcry ring through the air. From the top of the cliff, a figure jumped down, holding a golden sword in his hand, his whole arm bleeding from some wound on his shoulder. The figure landed right in front of Dream, digging the sword deep into the Piglin's chest. He breathed heavily as if that one thing took all of his energy. He looked back at Dream, making his heart stop.

It was George. Well, sort of. He looked like George, except he looked broken. His left side was covered in blood, he had a gash on his cheek that looked like it had just scabbed over, and his wrists were destroyed, looking like they were sliced up with a potato peeler. "Why am I always the one getting hurt in order to save your ass?" He looked back towards the Piglins as he grabbed Dream's arm. "The door is just over here! Come on!" Dream let George drag him towards a blue door that he had missed when he was running. George kicked it open and shoved Dream inside. Just before the Piglins could come inside, George threw the door shut and held it closed, yelling, "GET THE NETHERRACK!" The door bounced against him as the Piglins attempted to break it down. "DREAM!"

Dream did what he was told, lost in a daze. He saw a body on the ground. He saw the blood everywhere. But George was right there in front of him, alive. He flung some netherrack to George, who then barricaded the door just in time to keep the Piglins out. George stepped back, slowly reaching his right hand to his shoulder. He just needed a moment to calm down.

"George." Dream carefully reached out to touch him, scared that he'd crumble under the weight of his hand. "You're alive!"

George didn't move. He just stood there, hand on his shoulder, eyes locked on the barricaded door. He flinched when Dream's hand brushed against his back, not used to being touched. He looked back at Dream and studied his face as if seeing it for the first time. "Are you really here?"

Dream tearfully nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm here." Dream watched as something changed in George. His tough demeanor that he previously had crumbled, revealing the sadness and anger inside of him. "I saw Sapnap running towards the lava pool. He was injured. He was limping pretty bad." Dream opened his arms to try to hug him, but George pushed him away, leaving a bloody handprint on his shirt. "We can do this later. Right now, we need to save Sapnap." He grabbed a pickaxe that was leaned up against the wall and wandered down the hall and into the bedroom he had made himself. He broke a large chunk of netherrack, exposing them to the area outside of the cave house. This area was not surrounded by Piglins, leaving Dream feeling thankful. He was glad to feel something other than confused. Despite him being alive, Dream still felt the need to mourn his death.

George tightly held the golden sword in his hand, doing everything he could to keep his cool. He had imagined what he'd say to Dream as soon as he saw him again, but now that they were reunited, he felt all of the emotions he felt the night that they were separated. Anger. Sadness. Shame. He wanted to reach out and touch Dream just to confirm that he was real, but he feared that as soon as he did, things would blow up again.

George took the lead, sticking to the side of the netherrack. He closed his eyes as he tried to remember the direction Sapnap was running in. Well, limping actually. He could recall seeing those netherrack formations before, so it wasn't hard to get on his path. With George in the lead, Dream decided to watch their backs. If one of the hogs came up behind them, they could be in serious danger. He was really regretting not bringing any armor, but he never expected things to go like this. Suddenly, he noticed George picking up his movement speed, readying himself to fight. Not too far away from them, Sapnap was up one of the twisted vines, holding onto it for dear life as the Piglins swarmed at his feet.

"If we move fast, we can get him and run," Dream says.

George points to Sapnap's ankle. "He can't run Dream. We're going to have to fight our way through."

"There is no way we can take them on without armor and shields, Dream."

"How would you know?"

George points to his bleeding shoulder. "Don't fucking test me right now. Trust me."

"Have you dealt with them before?"

George nods. "Yeah, but I was only able to get away because I dropped-" His eyes trail down to his sword. "Gold! I have an idea! You go around the back, and I'll take care of the Piglins. Stay low and stay hidden."

Dream crouched and silently made his way behind the trees to get to the other side of the twisted vine. Sapnap struggled to keep himself up and appeared to be slightly falling, which worried Dream. He wanted to jump up and save him, but with the hoard growing around him, there was no way he'd make it. He kept his eyes locked on George as the maniac whistled to get the pigs' attention. He then held up the golden sword in his right hand, the glow from the nearby lava reflecting off of it and straight into Dream's eyes, temporarily blinding him. He looked away, rubbed his eyes, then looked back to find that the pigs had moved to the area that George was in just a few seconds ago. His heart sank for a second, but stopped when he spotted George sprinting towards the twisted vine, unarmed.

He reached up to Sapnap, who was in too much pain to be happy to see him. Dream got up from his spot and helped George bring him back down. "Dream, help him walk. I'll watch our backs." George grabbed Sapnap's sword as Dream wrapped one of Sapnap's arms around his neck, holding him with his left arm. Sapnap took a step, then nearly fell, sucking in a sharp breath to hide his pain. He took a second to reposition himself, then nodded at Dream, signalling that he was good to walk.

As they walked, George was sure to continuously be looking around for any sign of danger. The golden sword he had was the perfect distraction to get them out, but now, they only had two swords, two injured people, and no armor or food. Thankfully, there were no dangers lurking around besides the zombie pigmen in the area. None of them had any clue where they were going, but George did his best to keep mental notes about the landmarks they passed that could help them later.

As the air around them cooled down a little, George noticed a new biome ahead of them. It was entirely grey, complete with tall columns of some sort of grey rock that George wasn't too familiar with. He knew it was called basalt, but that was as much as he could recall from all those times Bad would spew information about his studies. The ash in the air made his nose burn, but he'd have to get used to it. "Let's set up here for a little bit."

"Why?" Dream asked. "I don't think this is the safest place to rest."

Sapnap groaned. "There is no safe place here, Dream."

George walked up to the closest pillar and rubbed his hand across the grey stone. It was a similar temperature to the blackstone. Hot, but compared to the rest of the nether, quite cool. "Lean Sapnap up against this. I want to check out his ankle."

Sapnap, growing impatient with how slow Dream was moving, pushed him away and staggered toward the column, wincing as he went. He leaned his back against it and slid down, his shirt slightly pulled up from getting stuck on the stone. He threw his head back and took some breaths as George got down on his knees to check his ankle.

As George carefully rolled up Sapnap's black pants, he noticed that Sapnap was breathing funny. He seemed to be in a lot of pain. He was also extremely sweaty, more than what George would have expected. George untied Sapnap's boot and pulled it off, revealing his swollen ankle. He carefully felt around, doing his best not to cause Sapnap any more pain. "I don't think it's broken. Can you move it?"

Sapnap's eyes shut as he forced himself to move. It put him in a lot of pain, but it proved that it wasn't broken. "God this shit hurts so much."

"I know, I know." George slid the boot back on, but didn't lace it up, and decided to keep his pant leg rolled up. "Let's just stay here and breathe for a little bit. I think this is the coolest biome that I know of."

Sapnap looked around, narrowing his eyes at the grey and black rocks all around. "How is this cool? It is by far the most boring thing I've seen all day."

Dream quickly exhaled through his nose. "You're such an idiot."

"Wrong kind of 'cool', genius!" George teased.

"George called me a genius. Someone write that down!" The three all laughed quietly to themselves before quickly stopping. It felt weird for them to feel any sort of positive emotion when they were stuck in another realm of existence than their own. But, in a way, they were thankful for relief, even if it was only for a moment. "You know, George," Sapnap whispered, "it's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," George admitted. He looked up at Dream and nervously gnawed his bottom lip. "I guess we've got some stuff to talk about, huh?"

Dream nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. We can chat while I clean you up." George gave him a weird look, prompting Dream to point at his shoulder. "You got fucked up. At least let me see if I can help you at all." He sat down beside George and rolled up his sleeve that was sticking to his arm due to the blood. It made him feel slightly sick seeing George so damaged, but this wasn't the first time he had gotten hurt and it probably wouldn't be the last either. "How did this happen?"

"I had some of those giant hogs after me. When they hit you, the fling you up into the air. This one sent me flying and the hoodie got caught on a twisted vine." George reached up and touched a line on his neck that Dream didn't notice earlier. "It was choking me. I was able to get into a position where I could barely breathe, but it still hurt like hell. I had seen you guys earlier, so I screamed your name to give you time to run, but I guess it also alerted all of the other Piglins in the area. Two Piglins fired at me. One missed and one hit my shoulder. I broke the wooden part of the arrow off and I let myself fall out of the hoodie."

"So, who was the the body being ripped apart by the hogs?"

"I guess it was just another Piglin. The two don't seem to get along that well." George shifts the way he was sitting, pain shooting up his arm. "Dammit. This arrowhead hurts like hell."

"Holy shit! The arrowhead is still in your shoulder?" Dream turned George slightly so that he could see better. "Don't we need to get it out?"

"If you pull it out, the bleeding will get worse." George motioned to Dream's bag. "Do you have anything in your inventory to help?"

"No, Skeppy had most of our medical things," Dream explained.

George's eyes flashed with worry. "Where're Bad and Skeppy?"

"Don't worry, they are fine, George." Dream smiled, sparking a light in George's heart that had gone out a few days ago. "Bad stayed in the overworld with Lily and A6D and Skeppy returned to them while Sap and I came for you."

"Lily's alive," George whispered to himself. "Oh my god, she's alive."

"Yeah, yeah she's alright."

"I hate to break up the moment," Sapnap stated, getting their attention, "but we need to figure out what to do about George's shoulder. It's fucked up, and it could get infected. We don't know what sort of diseases are hanging out around here."

Dream grabbed the green hoodie from his waist. "The best we can do right now is maybe tying something around it to stop the bleeding."

"I've got an idea," George hesitated. "I don't think any of us are going to like it though."

"What's your idea?" Dream asked.

George held his breath for a few seconds, then asked, "Do either of you know how to cauterize a wound?"

———

Word Count: 2397

As you know by now, I do have a discord and the link is below. If you would like to join a community of other readers, please hop on by! We'd love to have you!!!

https://discord.gg/Yrq5hf

I also have a Twitter now! You can follow me for story updates as well as to send/see any fanart I receive. I love talking to you guys, so drop a follow and let me know you're a reader and I'll follow you back! You can find me at:

@App13_Juice

Published: August 29th


	18. Who is Cutting Onions?

As Sapnap pulled the arrowhead out of George's shoulder, George winced. The arrowhead was incredibly sharp and was designed like a fishing harpoon. When pulled out, it cut him even more. Sapnap wound his arm back to throw the arrowhead into a small lava pool that Dream was dipping his sword in, but George grabbed his wrist before he could.

George plucked the arrowhead out of his hand and turned it around carefully. "The craftsmanship of this thing is amazing! I'm keeping it so I can replicate it."

"You are such a nerd!" Sapnap painfully giggled, still in his awful state. Dream had previously pointed out that Sapnap was turning extremely pale, but he convinced his friends that he was fine. He felt ready to puke at any second, but they didn't need to know that.

Dream pulled his sword out of the lava, looking back at George with concern. As he walked back, he shook off the last few drops of lava left on the blade. "George, are you sure you want to do this?"

George peeled off his shirt and used his teeth to tear off a strip of fabric off of the bottom. "We don't have much choice, do we?"

George tossed the shirt off to the side, landing in Sapnap's lap. Sapnap scoffed and threw the shirt back at him. "Dude, put it back on. No one needs to see you shirtless." George set the shirt off to the side, ignoring him.

Dream sat down beside George, shaking from anxiety. "I don't know if I can do this. This is going to hurt me just as much as it'll hurt you."

George handed Dream the piece of fabric. "We'll get through it together." He sat up straight against the basalt beside Sapnap, grabbing Sapnap's hand for comfort. "I'm ready when you are."

Dream carefully positioned the blade to line up perfectly with George's arm and waited for George to give him the signal. George bit the inside of his cheek and nodded, then looked away as Dream pressed his searing hot blade against his skin. George screamed as he felt his skin melt under the blade's heat. Though it was only pressed against him for a second, he could still feel his wound cooking after the blade was removed.

"I'M SORRY!" Dream yelled as he tried to comfort George. "I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you so bad."

George gritted his teeth and he took a few breaths to calm down. "Go again. We need to get this finished."

"I can't hurt you." Dream lowered the sword. "I just can't."

George rolled his eyes, dropped Sapnap's hand, and grabbed the sword from Dream. He pushed the blade up against his skin, his face contorting with pain as the seconds passed. Then, as he pulled the blade off of his skin, he shakily exhaled. George looked down at his shoulder, breathing hard. "Tie me up, Dream."

"Ew! George!" Sapnap teased, doing everything he could to hide how impressed he was with George. After getting his own arm burnt up, he knew what sort of pain he had to go through. And he wasn't about to let George know how impressed he was.

George laid his head back with a weak smile. He wanted to laugh at Sapnap, but he couldn't bring himself to feel anything except the pain in his arm. Dream grabs the piece of fabric that George had torn earlier and gently wrapped it around his shoulder the best he could. He tried his best not to hurt George's scorched skin, feeling more and more woozy the longer he looked at it. The bleeding stopped, but his skin was now charred and the coagulated blood was painful just to look at, not to mention the smell. After tying it as tightly as he could without hurting George, he backed off and looked at him.

As George moved his head back to an upright position, he noticed Dream staring at him, making him slightly uncomfortable. "Can I help you?"

"I missed you." Dream grabbed George's hand and locked their fingers together. "I missed you so much. I'm sorry. For, well, everything."

"No, I'm sorry," George admitted. "This whole thing could've been avoided if I wasn't such a dumbass."

Dream pulled their intertwined hands up to his mouth, planting a gentle kiss on George's knuckles. "We were both dumbasses, huh?"

George silently laughed. "Maybe, but I was the bigger dumbass. If I had just told you how I felt, we wouldn't be here right now." He looked over at Sapnap who had closed his eyes to rest. "I assume he told you everything?"

"Yeah. You know, I wouldn't have been mad at you about Lily, right? I would've understood."

George shook his head and looked away. "I know that now. I'm sorry."

Dream turned George's head to face him. "I'll forgive you if you forgive me. Deal?"

George leaned forward and laid his head on Dream's chest. "Deal." He shakily reached his arms up and carefully wrapped them around Dream, tears forming in his eyes. Dream couldn't tell if he was crying because of his pain or out of relief. They desperately held each other, too scared to let go. "So, how are we going to get out of here? I don't know the way back."

"We'll do a speedrun!" Dream exclaimed, started to get excited.

George looked up at Dream, confused by this sudden burst of energy he had. "Speedrun? What the hell is a speedrun?"

"Like, we can just keep moving and walking and just not stop!"

George motioned to Sapnap, who was fast asleep. "He's not going to be able to keep up."

"That's ok. We will just go as fast as we can." He looked back at George. "We can do this. I know we can."

"Ok, but we should rest here for a little bit. I think we all need some rest." George stood up and offered a hand to Dream. "Let's go get some wood and stuff so we can build a shelter."

Dream grabbed George's hand, but pulled him back to the ground. "You stay here. You need to give yourself a break. I'll be back with wood." Dream didn't let George get out a single word before leaving, heading back the way they came.

George wanted to get up to follow him, but he just couldn't move his legs. He felt exhausted and the burning pain in his shoulder was still killing him. Instead of once again pushing his body beyond its limits, George listened to Dream and stayed put. He looked around, watching as grey particles danced in the air, blown around by a mysterious wind that George hadn't paid much attention to earlier. The breeze felt nice against his skin, wet with sweat and tears. George closed his eyes and took it all in, but the peace only lasted for a few seconds, being interrupted by Sapnap coughing himself awake.

Sapnap opened his eyes and gagged. "George, put your damn shirt back on, please. I'm begging. No one wants to see that."

George grabbed his shirt and carefully pulled it over his head. "I missed you too, asshole." He held his breath as he tried to slide his hurt arm into the sleeve, unable to get his arm at the correct angle.

Sapnap got up and pulled his arm through the sleeve but accidentally brushed George's shoulder, causing him to flinch. He immediately let go and scooted back. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

George took in a sharp breath as he continued to force his arm into his shirt, eventually managing to get it in. He pulled the shirt down over his chest while Sapnap pushed himself up to get into a more comfortable position. "Is your ankle going to be ok?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it'll be fine." Sapnap looked at his hurt ankle. "The swelling has even gone down a little bit!"

George looked at his ankle, not noticing any difference between what it looked now versus what it looked like earlier. "Ok, sure. If you say so." George grabbed a small pebble beside him and flung it across the ground, watching as it bounced into the lava. "So how have you guys been?"

"As good as we possibly could. We haven't fought much since the night you disappeared, but things have been tense." Sapnap scanned the area to see if he saw Dream, then looked back at George to speak in a hushed voice. "Between you and me, I like Dream a lot more when you're around him. He's calmer, happier. I can't believe the same guy that annoyed the hell out of me three years ago is the same guy that I'm happy to have around now."

George playfully smacked him. "Oh shut up. You know you love me."

"I do!" Sapnap smiled widely. "You are one of my best friends and I love you Georgie."

Sapnap raised his arms to hug George, but he pushed him away. "Alright, alright, that's enough."

"GUYS! LOOK!" Dream yelled as he came bounding around the corner. In his hands was a small, teal orb. "I got attacked by an enderman and it dropped this! Doesn't it look so cool?" When he made it to George and Sapnap, he crouched down so he could show them the orb. George stared at it, mesmerized by the fact that he could see his own reflection in it.

"Oh! I heard Bad talk about those things before!" Sapnap exclaimed. "He called them, um....OH! ENDER PEARLS!"

"Did he say if they did anything special?" Dream asked.

Sapnap closed his eyes as he tried to remember anything Bad had said. "I don't know. I usually tune him out when he starts going on about random shit."

Dream shrugged. "That's fine. I'll just leave it with you guys." He stood up and tossed the ender pearl at George. As the pearl hit George's lap, it bursted and Dream teleported to him. Both Dream and George screamed as George pushed him out of his lap. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" While Dream seemed scared, George was highly excited and intrigued. "That was SO COOL! YOU TELEPORTED!"

Dream looked back towards the way he came. "If you'll excuse me, I have some endermen to kill. I am going to master teleportation if it's the last thing I do!"

He started to leave, but George crawled up and quickly grabbed his ankle, stopping him in his tracks. In front of them was a wandering Piglin, casually holding its sword in its hands. "If you go with those things in the area, it will be the last thing you do. We need to start moving. Did you get any wood?"

"Yeah, I've got enough for now." Dream offered his hand to George to help him up. "Are you sure you're good to start walking?"

George motioned to Sapnap. "I'm not the one you need to be asking."

Dream took a knee to be leveled with Sapnap. "Are you good if we start moving? I know you're not doing too well."

Sapnap nodded as he forced himself to stand with Dream's help. "The Piglins are still looking for us. If we don't go now, we are screwed."

Dream wrapped Sapnap's arm around his shoulders, keeping him from putting too much weight on his ankle. The three surveyed the area, then all silently agreed to head in a direction that resembled the Nether that they were used to. It was just netherrack with bits of gold and quartz embedded in it. George took the lead, carrying Dream's sword in his hand. For once, he was thankful to not have to use an enchanted sword.

"We need to get some gold armor," George explained as they went. "The Piglins will leave us alone if we wear gold."

"We also need to make you a sword," Dream stated. "There is no way we will be able to get through this with two weapons between the three of us and I have no idea how to make a bow in here."

"Even if we could make a bow, I don't have any feathers for arrows. Or flint. I'd literally be firing sticks."

Sapnap laughed. "It wouldn't be the first time you've had to fire with sticks!"

"I only fired with sticks because I didn't want to hurt Dream," George explained. "You full-on attacked him like a madman!"

"That's the point of a manhunt, George!" Sapnap smiled as he thought back to the time when Dream had convinced his friends to hunt him down while he completed tasks. The main rule was to not cause any harm, so Bad used a wooden sword while George only shot sticks to avoid hurting him. Sapnap, on the other hand, decided to use his enchanted sword and set Dream on fire. At the time, it was terrifying! But now, it was something they could all look back on and laugh about. "You know what? If we get out of here, we need to do that again."

"You mean 'when', not 'if'," Dream corrected. "'Cause we are getting out of here. Now, let's collect some gold and get this speedrun started."

———

Word Count: 2217

Published: August 9th


	19. A Seedy Place

Skeppy's eyes fluttered open as the sun came in through a small hole in the wall they were using as a window. He started to move but stopped when he heard Bad's soft snoring, reminding him that they had fallen asleep together. Bad was snuggled up against his chest and his arm was tucked under his head. He refused to move, not wanting to wake him up. But shortly after yawning, Bad opened his eyes and smiled.

"Good morning Skeppy," he whispered.

"Good morning, Bad. Sleep well?"

Bad turned a light shade of pink as the sun shone into his green eyes. "Yeah, something like that." He sat up and stretched. "Good morning Lily!" But his happy mood disappeared when he saw that both Lily and A6D were missing. "Where are they?"

Skeppy shot up in bed. "He took her! I knew we couldn't have trusted him! I KNEW IT!" He threw his legs over the bed and slid into his boots, lacing them up as quickly as he could while Bad tried to tell him to calm down. Skeppy wasn't listening, though. He was ready to kill A6D. He grabbed his trident from the wall it was leaned up against and burst through the door, expecting to have to hunt them down. Instead, he found A6D and Lily sitting in the grass, watching Fluffy chase its tail.

A6D looked up, confused as to why Skeppy looked battle-ready. "Is everything ok?"

Bad stepped outside, grabbing Skeppy's arm. "Yes, everything is fine. Skeppy just panicked for a second. That's all!"

A6D stood up and walked over to the two. "Skeppy? Could you watch Lily? I need to talk to Bad alone for a few minutes."

"He's not going anywhere without me," Skeppy stated. He sounded very threatening, which put A6D on edge. During his time watching Dream with Technoblade, Skeppy was always the loud jokester that didn't have a care in the world. He would've never thought that Skeppy would be someone he'd have to look out for.

Bad squeezed Skeppy's arm. "It's ok, Zak. We are just going to step inside and chat. Besides, I can defend myself if I have to. Don't worry about it!" Skeppy stared at A6D, silently threatening him with his eyes, then walked over to sit next to Lily. Fluffy got on his feet and bounded into Skeppy's lap, but he didn't pay any attention to the dog. All he could do was sit there was watch as Bad left with A6D.

Bad closed the door behind them and A6D sat on the edge of the bed he slept on, his leg bouncing as he wiped his palms on his leather vest. "So, how can I help you, Vincent?"

"While we were in the Nether, we watched a boy get killed. It was Techno's younger brother." Bad's heart sank as he watched A6D talk. "He was only 16 or something. We didn't even know he was alive. I was in so much shock that I couldn't move to save him."

Bad sat down next to him and rubbed A6D's back. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Vincent. I can only imagine your pain. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I want you to help me find the others."

"The others? What others?"

A6D stood up and began pacing around. "If Tommy was alive, then the rest of the village may be too! The only way to find out would be to go look for them!"

"Woah, take a deep breath." Bad stands up to look him in the eyes. "We can't just leave the area. What if Dream and Sapnap come back with George?"

"Your friends' desert village isn't too far away. We can stop there before we head out and let Rose and Mega know what is going on!"

"Look, Vincent, I want to help you. I really do. But I just can't leave them." Bad collapsed back onto the bed. "They are my family."

"Bad, listen to me. Dream and Sapnap will be fine. They are strong guys capable of handling themselves." A6D waited for Bad to say something, but he stayed silent. In one last effort to convince him to help find his village, A6D sadly said, "If you lost all of your friends and family, wouldn't you do everything you could to save them?"

His words hit a soft spot in Bad. It reminded him of the countless hours he had spent searching for Skeppy back when he was missing. He could feel the heartache that A6D was probably feeling. Bad knew that he didn't have a choice. "I'll help you."

A6D looked up and grinned wildly. "Thank you, Bad! Thank you so much! You won't regret this!"

The front door opened as Lily skipped in. Skeppy was right behind her, holding Fluffy in his arms. "Everything good in here?"

"We are going to wander into the forest and help A6D find his village!" Bad said almost a little too happily.

Skeppy's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me, Bad? We don't know if his village is alive! Why would we go sacrifice our safety for a dead village?"

"Because that's what friends do!" Bad grabbed Skeppy's arm and pulled him into a hug, the dog still sitting in Skeppy's hands. "Come on, you'd do the same if it was for me!"

"Alright maybe, but I wouldn't ask two dudes to help me. Especially ones that are taking care of a kid that isn't even theirs!" In the corner of his eye, he saw Bad pull Lily into a tight hug. They both knew that his words reminded her that she was alone, but Skeppy wasn't about to back down from A6D so easily. Skeppy motioned towards the door. "Go back to the desert village and ask them for help."

"I don't trust them," A6D admitted. "They aren't the most friendly people, especially that Mega guy. He gives me the creeps."

"He's not too bad when he talks," Skeppy retorted. "He's got a lot of great things to say when he feels like saying it."

Bad covered his mouth as he giggled. "Don't be silly! Mega can't talk!"

Remembering Mega's threat, Skeppy decided not to respond. He didn't feel like dying tonight. Instead, he changed the subject back to A6D. "Look, man, I'm sorry that you lost everything, but there is no way I'm helping you."

"I'll help you!" Lily shouted as she stood on her bed. "You and me, Vinny! We've got this!" She pulled Dream's mask over her face and jumped off the bed, ready to start her new adventure. She grabbed Bad's hand and started walking towards the door. "We can let grumpy stay here!"

Skeppy crossed his arms. "I am not grumpy! Why am I the only responsible one here?"

"You're not responsible, Skep," Lily stated softly. "You're just boring."

Skeppy playfully glared at her and she glared back, knowing she had won. "Alright, fine. Bad, help me pack up the beds and we can get going." He cracked a smile. "You win kid."

The pool of lava popped as Dream, George, and Sapnap walked along its edge, but Sapnap could barely hear it over Dream's awful singing. He had been shouting the same damn song for the past hour and it was starting to get on his nerves. To make matters worse, Dream had been holding him to help him walk the entire time, so it made the song even more painful to listen to.

And just when Sapnap thought he was finally done, Dream started singing again. "There's 104 ways to enjoy a speedrun, but one comes along just to end it! So the only real problem with world generation is finding a good nether fortress!"

"NO!" Sapnap screamed. "You will NOT continue to sing that damn song! We've been walking for hours, my ankle is killing me, I'm always five seconds away from vomiting, and I can't focus on anything because I am so damn hot. If you start back up one more time, I promise you, I will set you on fire with my sword and push you into the lava pool."

Dream fell silent as George started laughing uncontrollably. George had been enjoying Dream's pointless singing, even going as far as to insert himself into the song. But seeing Sapnap mad was even more entertaining. Not because he liked seeing him mad, but because for a moment, just one little moment, he had forgotten where he was. The moment didn't last long because, soon after, he felt the pain in his shoulder again as well as the pain in his stomach from not being able to eat anything. "Hey, guys? Is there any way we can stop and eat soon?"

Just the mention of food made Sapnap gag, making Dream almost drop him. "Dude, if you're going to puke, can you puke facing the lava? Thanks!"

"I'm serious! I haven't eaten in forever!" George looked around and spotted mushrooms growing underneath a red tree ahead of them. He quickly made his way over to the mushroom patch, nearly tripping over some red rocks on his way there. He took a knee and examined the bright red mushrooms, attempting to remember if he had heard Technoblade mention them at all. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember anything and decided to leave them alone. After hearing Bad talk about dangerous mushrooms not too long ago, he didn't want to risk being poisoned.

"GEORGE! LOOK!" Dream yelled from behind him. George looked over his shoulder and saw Dream and Sapnap heading towards a large gold vein. He broke off a part of the red tree and took the wood over to his friends. They quickly made a wooden pick and Dream began mining the gold, tossing the small gold nuggets to Sapnap. Every time he had enough, he'd make them into ingots. When Dream finished mining the vein of gold, he saw another one not too far away and ran towards it, eager to collect gold. By the time he finished, they had just enough gold to make two sets of golden boots. George and Dream both took a pair after Sapnap insisted that they take the little armor they had.

"I'm going to go search the area for food," George decided. "We won't be able to make it far without eating anything."

George started to leave, but Dream reached out and grabbed his hand. "George, I just got you back. I don't want to lose you again."

George smirked and kissed him on the cheek. "You won't lose me, I promise."

Before Dream could object, Sapnap started gagging again, drawing his attention away from George. Like all of the times he had gagged earlier, nothing came up, filling Dream with relief. By the time he looked up, George was already gone.

"Ok, Sapnap. I'm going to find some more gold so we can make your boots. Are you good if I leave you here? I won't go far."

"I'll be fine, Dream." Sapnap removed Dream's hand from his shoulders and carefully sat down. He undid his laces on his boot to take the pressure off of his hurt ankle. "Go do your thing."

Dream nodded and headed off towards a vein of gold he could see in the distance. After a few minutes, he had just enough gold to make the last pair of boots. He pulled a small crafting bench out of his bag and got to work crafting the boots. Just as he was about to finish, Dream heard a yell from the area Sapnap was in. He looked up and saw him limping away from a Piglin holding a golden sword.

"DREAM! IT DOESN'T LIKE ME!" He screamed as he headed in Dream's direction. Dream regretted taking the only other sword they had. He drew it and ran towards Sapnap with the golden boots in his hands.

"IT'S AFTER YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT WEARING GOLD!" Dream yelled as he sprinted towards Sapnap. He threw the boots. "HERE! PUT THESE ON!"

Sapnap tried to catch the boots, but they flew over his head. By the time he turned around, he saw the Piglin examining them. Dream ran up beside him, out of breath. "What's he doing?" Sapnap asked.

"I don't know! I didn't know it'd do that."

"Well, what's he going to do with it?"

They got their answer and the Piglin slid it's feet into the boots and continued its charge towards Sapnap. Sapnap screamed, "HE PUT THEM ON! DREAM, HE PUT THEM ON! KILL IT!!!"

Dream lifted his arm to swing but then noticed the other Piglins emerging from the surrounding area. "Sapnap, I can't just kill it!"

"DREAM, PLEASE!" Sapnap begged. "I'M GOING TO DIE!"

Dream looked back towards the other Piglins and decided that they were far enough away to miss the death of one of their comrades. He charged at the Piglin and drove his sword through its chest, killing it quickly. It let out a loud squeal, but just as Dream had guessed, the others were too far away to hear it.

Once the Piglin fell to the ground, Sapnap yanked the boots off of its feet. "Fuck you! These are my boots. MY. BOOTS."

"GUYS?!" George yelled out as he came running up, out of breath. "I heard screaming! Everything alright?"

Dream nodded as he looked down at the dead Piglin. "Yeah, yeah we're fine. Were you able to find any food?"

"Yeah, but you're not going to like how we get it."

"What do you mean?" Dream looked in the direction George came from and spotted a few Hoglins right next to a Piglin that looked like he was hunting them. "Don't tell me that THAT'S your big plan!"

"If I'm correct, it's just another kind of pig, which means its pork may be edible." He grabbed Dream's hand and dragged him towards the hogs. "If we go fast, we'll be fine."

"What about the Piglins? Don't they kind of want to kill us?"

"We all have gold! We'll be fine." George continued pulling Dream along towards the hogs. As soon as they got close, the two hogs charged. George pulled out a blue mushroom and held it out in front of him, making the Hoglins back up into a wall off to the side. George and Dream both saw this as a perfect opportunity to strike and made quick work of the fearful hogs.

George got on his knees and began cutting chunks of meat off of the hog when the hunting Piglin walked up to them, followed by Sapnap, who was still keeping his distance from the Piglin out of fear of being attacked. As soon as the Piglin saw the dead Hoglin, it began wiggling its arms in the air while bobbing its head. It caught Dream's attention and he burst into laughter, followed by Sapnap, then George.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Dream yelled as he clutched his sides. "THIS GUY IS, LIKE, DANCING OR SOMETHING!"

George placed a hand on Dream's arm to stabilize himself as he laughed. "He's doing the wiggle wiggle thing!"

Sapnap then abruptly stopped laughing and vomited. George looked away to keep himself from getting sick while Dream awkwardly patted his back, not quite sure how to help him. Bad was always good at these sorts of things, but Dream felt like he sucked at comforting sick people. "It's okay, buddy. Just let it out. There you go."

Sapnap coughed and stood upright, wiping his mouth with his black sleeve. "Not helping, Dream. Like, at all." He smoothed out his shirt and gave himself a minute to breathe. "Just cut up the damn pig so we can keep moving."

———

Word Count: 2622

Sorry that these updates have been so delayed! Hopefully soon I can get into an actual writing schedule. I'm working on it! I promise! XD

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Published: September 23rd


	20. Diamonds to You!

"Can I PLEASE sing the song?" Dream begged. "I am so BORED!"

Sapnap stopped in his tracks and stared at Dream. "I already said no. I won't say it again."

"But Niiiiiiiiiiick!"

Sapnap made a disgusted face. "Ew, no. Don't you go using my real name right now. I hate it."

"GUYS!" George shouted from a few feet ahead of them. "THERE'S THE FORTRESS! WE MADE IT BACK!"

"I don't think this is the same place," Sapnap admitted.

"Why's that?" George asked.

"Well, this one is surrounded by soul sand, unlike the last one."

George's hopeful look faded. "Damn. I thought we were close to getting home."

"We should go check it out," Dream decided. "Maybe we can find something useful!"

Dream started to step towards the fortress's entrance, but George grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him back. "Or maybe we will get attacked and die. This is a bad idea, especially when we don't have any armor or enough weapons."

"If we can find some stone, just make me an axe," Sapnap told them.

Dream gave him a funny look. "Dude, you're the one with an enchanted iron sword. Why do you want us to make you a worse weapon?"

Sapnap shrugged. "I don't know. Axes look cool."

George covered his mouth as he giggled. "You are too accident-prone to use an axe."

"Says the guy who can barely use a sword!"

Dream then began walking towards the fortress ahead of them. "Well, I'm going to the fortress, with or without you guys."

George huffed out a breath and began walking. Sapnap grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "You're seriously okay with this?"

"I've lost him once," George explained. "I'm not letting it happen again." Sapnap let him go and followed after them, doing his best to keep his balance.

Dream had found an entrance to the fortress that was right next to the netherrack they were walking on. He lead the others inside and readies the sword in his hands. Part of him wanted to give the sword George had back to Sapnap, but he wasn't healthy enough to fight. He struggled to walk in a straight line, so there was no way he'd do any better than George in a fight. He continued walking down the corridor, getting flashbacks to his time with Technoblade. It gave him an eerie feeling, causing his stomach to twist into a knot. George noticed him begin to tense up, so he lovingly grabbed his hand, ready to help him push through his thoughts.

Ahead of them, they found a chest in the corner, covered in a layer of dust. Dream dropped George's hand as he blew the dust off of the top of the chest. The dust floated up into the air and stung Dream's nose, causing him to sneeze. On top of the chest, he saw a message etched into it: When God sends me to hell, I want him to hesitate. Dream instantly knew it was Techno's chest. It just sounded like something he'd say. He popped the lid of the chest open and found an assortment of junk inside. It was mostly pieces of paper, flint, coal, a bundle of sticks, feathers, and other things that an average person would travel with. But underneath all of that were two diamonds and a flint and steel.

Dream pulled the two diamonds out first and held them in his hands. They were cool to the touch, despite being in the hot chest for a long time. They were still shiny and a brilliant shade of blue. While George stared at the diamonds with Dream, Sapnap was more excited for the flint and steel. He pulled them out and ran the steel hook against the flint, causing a spark. Sapnap smiled as he tucked them into his bag, knowing that he had a new toy to play with later.

With Sapnap's help, Dream sifted through the other items in the chest, pulling out the sticks and coal, deciding that they could be of use at some point. After their previous adventure, they knew they had to hang on to every bit of supply they could find. Then, they continued down the hall and around a corner that opened up into a large bedroom of some sort. Everything was messy and thrown about. The pink and grey beds sat across the room from each other, looking like they hadn't been touched in years. Next to the pink bed was a crafting table with a book on top of it, sparking Dream's curiosity. Dream walked over to it and opened the book up to a random page to find similar looking journal entries to those made by Technoblade in the overworld.

_Day 86-_

_I made a mistake. I was so angry at the world that I wanted to watch it burn, but after seeing the dangers that my Wither is capable of, I can't tell if I'm more scared of it or of myself. I've become a monster, myself. Overnight, it escaped to the overworld and killed everyone. By the time Vin and I found the village, it was too late. They're all dead. Phil. Wilbur. Tubbo. And Tommy. I only wanted to scare them. I didn't actually want them all to die. Vin thinks I'm slipping away. He may be right. I don't know how much longer I can hold out for._

_Day 90-_

_I'm numb now. I can't feel anything. No more regrets. No more pain. No more happiness. Nothing. Now, it's just me, Vincent, and a monster that has been slowly draining every ounce of life I once had. But this numbness has also taken away my ability to feel fear. I can't tell if that is a good or bad thing, but I guess I'll figure it out soon. Vincent has been waking me up sobbing every night. I hope that he, too, can reach the same freedom that I've been provided with. As soon as he shuts off that part of himself, he will be able to relax. He needs to stop feeling._

_~T.B._

_Day 112-_

_We've found a temporary place to call home. It's a large brick temple of some sort. I don't know how long we will be able to stay here, but it works for now. It's not the home I want to build for myself someday, but it will do. Vincent has finally stopped crying. I think he feels the numbness too. Good for him. He deserves to stop feeling._

_~T.B._

_Day 115-_

_There is something terribly wrong with this place. New wither skeletons appear every other hour with no warning. I think it has to do with the biome or something. This fortress is crawling with them! If we stick around, they will just kill us, so Vin and I have decided that we are heading out in the morning. I'm leaving behind a chest of some items in case I ever decide to come back. I'm also leaving this journal behind because every time I flip through the pages, I begin to feel emotions again. I refuse to let myself feel weak ever again._

_~T.B._

Dream closed the book and placed it back on the crafting table. "Guys, we need to be careful. This place is apparently crawling with wither skeletons."

George shivered. "Perfect. I love having to deal with those things when I don't have my weapon of choice."

Sapnap grabbed the book from the crafting table and flipped through the pages. "Did you read that in here?"

"Yep. I also learned that Techno didn't want to kill his village."

Sapnap tossed the book onto the bed. "Accident or not, it still happened. Had he not tampered with creating life, we wouldn't be in this mess." He sat on the bed and began picking at the pink blanket. "So, what's the plan? Do we want to stay here or keep searching the fortress? I personally don't want to go out there in the state I'm in now that I know that there are skeletons around." He pulls out a long string from the blanket. "I'm cool if we just stay here and rest up. We can block the doorway and hide for a bit."

George snatched the string from Sapnap's hand and stretched it out, a smile forming on his face. "I can use this to make a bow!"

"Will you be able to fire with your shoulder?" Dream asked.

"If I can fire with a broken wrist, I can do anything." He pulled Dream close to him and dug through his bag, eventually pulling out a few blue sticks. He then tossed Techno's journal onto the bed and began crafting. "Can you guys go grab the flint and feathers from that chest in the hall? I need to see how many arrows I can make!" Dream gladly stood up and left the room, loving the fact that George getting a bow back was enough to reignite the flame in him.

Dream quickly made his way to the chest and began digging around, managing to find ten pieces of gravel and twelve feathers. George would have enough for forty arrows which were perfect for him. With George's skill, he probably could've been just fine with ten arrows. Dream shoved everything into his back and turned to go back to the room, but froze. Lingering on the other side of the doorway was a wither skeleton, watching Dream's every move. Dream readied his sword as he walked towards it, feeling nervous. Every time he thought of a wither skeleton, he got flashbacks to all of the times his friends nearly died at the hands of the withering effect the monster had on them. As he got closer, he spotted a second skeleton behind it. Then a third. Then a fourth. The more his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the more he noticed that the hallway was filled with them. Choosing not to fight, he darted into the room, just barely dodging an incoming attack from one of the skeletons. He slammed the door closed as the skeletons banged against it, trying to get in. Although they weren't touching him, Dream could feel himself growing weaker by the second. It wasn't as intense as the other times he had been withered in the past, but it was an uncomfortable feeling. Just as he started to lose the fight against the skeletons with the door, Sapnap managed to grab enough stone to pile in front of the door. It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy them some time.

"We need to get out of here!" Dream shouted as he began grabbing the few building materials scattered on the ground. "George, how fast can you make arrows?"

"I'm fast. Just hand over the materials, and I'll get to work." Dream pulled out the flint and feathers and tossed them to George while Sapnap placed his bundle of sticks onto the table. George was quickly able to make twelve arrows. While it wasn't much, if he recovered arrows, it'd be just fine for now.

"We need to find a safe way out of here. George, feeling along the walls. Find any bricks that are loose because they may be our way out. Sapnap, I need you to watch the door. Make sure nothing comes in and let us know if they start breaking through." Dream grabbed his sword. "Let's do this."

"WAIT!" Sapnap shouted. "What about the diamonds?! Make a sword, dumbass!" He grabbed Dream's bag from his side and pulled out the diamonds. "With this thing, all three of us will have reliable weapons!"

"I don't know, Sapnap. I don't want to waste them. Imagine how much I could sell them for back home! Or, I could find more and make some armor out of it? You never know!"

"It's not a waste! Just make the fucking sword so we can go!" He shoved the diamonds into Dream's hands and grabbed his own sword from the ground, prepared to fight anything that may come through. Though he was still weak, he felt powerful now that he could use his own sword again.

Dream organized the diamonds onto the crafting table and pulled a brown stick out of his bag. He was thankful that his father had made weapons. Had it not been for growing up around swords, he wouldn't have been able to craft a sturdy sword quickly. Not only did he make a beautiful, blue sword, but he made it in record time too. He lifted his new weapon and inspected it. It was surprisingly light-weight and incredibly sharp. It was perfect.

After pushing against bricks in the wall, George had managed to knock one loose enough to push through. On the other side, he could see a brick staircase surrounded by some sort of red fungi. It wasn't the same as what was in the crimson forests, but it reminded him of a mushroom. "Guys, I think I found a way out of the room!"

Dream grabbed his pickaxe from his bag and knocked down enough chunks in the wall to allow them to escape. They ran up the stairs ahead of them and found themselves at the top of the fortress. Around them were narrow rows of brick that suddenly ended in some places, making them dangerous to run across. To make it worse, half of the fortress was sitting over lava.

George loaded an arrow into his bow, squirming as his shoulder sent more pain down his arms. "So, what's the plan now, Dream?"

Before Dream could answer, a ghast floated up in front of them, crying as it prepared to throw a fire charge at them. Dream took a deep breath as he held up his new sword. "Survive."

———

Word Count: 2305

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Published: October 4th


	21. A/N- Not an Update

Hi guys! I’m alive! If you don’t read my story “Bang and Burn”, I’m sure it looks like I’ve just been MIA for a while. I took a break from this story to finish up that one because I found that balancing the two stories was hard to keep up with. The other story in writing is only two chapters away from being completed, so I plan on having it finished this weekend.

**This story will be continued! :D**

I have so many plans for this story (and possibly a third part to this series if you guys want it) and I am far from done. I can’t wait to get back into this story again and I hope that you all continue the story with me. We’ve got some more action, some more fluff and angst, and a whole lot of iconic moments starts back up next week!

Thank you all for being patient with me. I’m excited to continue the sequel to my first ever story.

Until next week, this is App1es, signing off! <3


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